by Gustavo Sosa, CEO, Sosa Ingenieria
I sit here wondering what is it that my clients need the most. I am always mumbling and complaining, a la Walter Matthau, about the lack of innovation in grain storage and processing. The systems look far from perfect, and still all companies manufacture almost identical products.
But do we need more improvement in the mechanical and structural systems? The silage bag was a revolution in South America because it provided a cheap storage system for just one year (or maybe three) in conditions of extreme uncertainty. If there is the chance you are forced to move to another country in two years, it makes no sense to build grain bins.
I sit here wondering what is it that my clients need the most. I am always mumbling and complaining, a la Walter Matthau, about the lack of innovation in grain storage and processing. The systems look far from perfect, and still all companies manufacture almost identical products.
But do we need more improvement in the mechanical and structural systems? The silage bag was a revolution in South America because it provided a cheap storage system for just one year (or maybe three) in conditions of extreme uncertainty. If there is the chance you are forced to move to another country in two years, it makes no sense to build grain bins.
That way, the most important innovation of the last 30 years had nothing to do with a real technological improvement. It was more about flexibility. It also aligns with the principles of Lean Entrepreneurship: start small, fail early.
Which are the main problems with a grain bin facility? This is an Ishikawa diagram. It is used to find the causes of a problem.
An Ishikawa diagram always classifies causes in: Personnel, Equipment, Environment, Materials (Grain in this case), Methods, and Measurements. Secondary causes here are just what came to my mind exploring the subject. You may have different opinions and still be correct.
Personnel
In most cases the problem derive from lack of training. Even motivation derives from it, because one starts enjoying things after having mastered them, not before. There may be compensation problems too, because in many companies, bosses don’t train workers, so they don’t have to pay them more.
This kind of environment is what leads to Union problems. In highly unionised countries you may have them even when you do everything right, but I have managed projects where we kept working during a general national strike (and nobody told the Construction Union), so I think the way you treat employees is critical.
The solution? Train your people, treat them well, and pay a fair salary.
Read more HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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