This was a particularly good editorial.  I have seen so much of this over the years…my job has been to build it, but I have often wondered why.

I also have been negligent in thanking you for sending me your little book and coin, I look at the coin every day and the book…from time to time.  Nobody owes me success, again I agree, and the most important job is to keep the invoice printer turning.  That is not always an easy thing to do.

Thanks again for your support and creativity, Jim.

John R. Lasswell, PE

Stillwater, Minnesota, USA

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Jim,

As one who has had a “Damascus Experience” with respect to the impact of good housekeeping, you deserve 4 stars for this article.  Housekeeping is a major component of preserving what you have.  Maintenance (or asset protection) is another as is human resource optimization and there are others.  My first supervisor in industry always said, “It runs about the same as it looks”  At that time I was too green to understand the impact of what he was saying.  It was 25 years later when the power of that statement was revealed to me.

One last thought; too many paper mills are maintained as if they are ‘throw-away’ assets while the owners and other stakeholders expect them to run forever.  If we could just decide up front which approach is going to be used and then stick with it, life would be a lot simpler for all.

Have a great day.

Ed Turner

Camden, North Carolina, USA

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