Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

I’ve been in “Pump School” for the last two days.  I went out on a limb and signed up eight operators and mechanics for pump school in Charlotte.  The way we operate and maintain pumps is atrocious!  But, I can only preach so much, and they only listen to me so much.  I figured if they heard it from someone else who’s “in the business”, they might start to understand.  So, I found a class in Charlotte put on by one of these industrial training outfits.  I got some of the more influential mechanics and operators to agree to go, albeit hesitantly.

Well, the last two days have been great!  There was much skepticism on Wednesday.  They claimed that “we already know how to pack pumps, why do we need this class?”  They were dismayed that they didn’t need to bring any tools or work clothes.  “What are we gonna learn by sitting in a classroom?”  They quickly learned the answer — ALOT.  Some theory.  Some practical application.  Proper operation, proper maintenance, some design, Do’s, Don’t, and a lot of “gee, I didn’t know that…”  The biggest skeptics in the group were thanking me for getting them in on the training, and are planning to take what they learned back to the plant to put into practice.  They even asked if there were more classes like that.  Hey, whatever it takes to get a more reliable plant…!

Another small success.