On a recent visit to a household products manufacturing plant in California we were awestruck at the miles of machinery humming away on lonely factory floors. Only 75 employees in total were needed to keep this enormous 300,000 square foot facility running 24/7.
It looked like machines rule the day. However on closer examination, we noted that it is the employees – each with an average of 15 years’ experience – who are tapped to perform mission critical tasks that greatly impact the factory’s performance. Tasks like reconfiguring production processes, immediate interventions to address process breakdowns, inspections and troubleshooting issues.
