Volatile Manufacturing

(Nobody told me it wasn't a blue jean Friday)



While working for a company that shall remain nameless, I had an excellent career path. I had a job with enough pay, perks, responsiblity, and importance. There was room for me to grow and learn, but room for me to teach too. I also had the fortune of hands on design and manufacturing input. I could say it was an ideal position for me at the time.

It was for a stamping and cold forming company that also had a rubber division. They manufacturer what I can basically refer to as automobile underwear; brackets, hangers, rods, etc. A bulk of their product was exhaust hangers that hand the rubber isolator attached to them and later (within vehicle assembly plants) attached the exhaust system to the under body of cars and trucks.

We manufactured the isolators with a metal insert inside the rubber. After enough complaints of not having the metal insert in the rubber, it was time for problem solving. A little basic error-proofing 101 and next thing you know, we added metal detectors to the assembly machine. They could not pass through the machine to be assembled to the hanger if there was no metal in the isolator. The machine would lock and hold the isolator for a supervisor to remove. We also added another verification of checking the isolators in final audit. Our machine group developed "hand held" metal detectors; basically a piece of PVC tubing with batteries, a sensor and wires inside. The ends were capped and a red "depress" button was on top to activate it.

All seemed to be working perfectly with no customer complaints for months on end. Then one bright and early business morning I received a frantic phone call telling me I needed to get my "ass up to Pontiac Truck pronto, no delays, speed if you have to we'll pay the ticket over the shutdown cost". Our management was all on the "other" side of the border so I was the quickest call even though I was an hour a way. I drove like a crazy fool wondering what in the hell could be so important that I was given a free pass to drive like I generally like to anyway. Upon arrival at the front lobby, I was greeted by Pontiac SWAT. The plant had been shut down and evacuated since the midnight shift, with the first shift called to stay home or sent home when they arrived.

I was quickly shuffled in the door after introducing myself to the officer and was high stepped by my arm to the back of the plant. While seeing a robot canister in the middle of the parking lot and wondering what in the hell was going on, I was shown pictures of an object. They were black and white photos obviously taken by a robot picking up said object from a greyish green tote we shipped our product in. In a second glance I busted out in hysterical laughter. All the pieces suddenly making sense and fitting together in my head. Seconds later I took note of the 40 or so officers looking directly at me with "a not so funny sneer" and I couldn't help but continue to roar uncontrollably while everyone else jumped and made a "OH-MY-GOD" gasp roll through the air just as the robot canister had detonated the object of concern in the furthest reaches of the back parking lot.

Immediately I started explaining what they had blown up was no object of concern. Had I been shown pictures earlier, the entire plant could have been working, SWAT wouldn't have needed to show up...etc. It was indeed the hand-held metal detector in one of the totes. Apparently an auditor of ours had set it down and the tote got stack upon and went into the truck for delivery.

I was ushered into a conference room and just then my management team showed up. They walked in all concerned with a questioning look toward me. Again, I burst into a laughter that was so contagious even the SWAT officers started laughing as they laid out pictures on the conference room table.

Needless to say, the shut down costs weren't a laughing matter and every metal detector was clearly marked as such (on all sides) from that day forward. It is, however, a day in volatile manufacturing that I will never forget.

I did try to go back and find the news link for this. I think it happened in 1997 or 1998. I know it was in the Detroit News, but I had no success in finding it. I do recall that even the way the article was written unleashed some further hysterical laughter making my ribs hurt as I explained why we needed to label the damn metal detectors SO VERY CLEARLY!