Comparing mill management in North America and Europe.

Dear Alan,

I was intrigued by the article in the November 2004 Solutions! on maintenance, "Joint reward system drives results and teamwork," followed by Jim Kenny's article in the December issue, "North America: The European connection." I believe that there has been a change in both the U.S. and European attitudes toward human relations in the last 50 years. The mills I knew in Europe in the 1950s were autocratic operations, while those U.S. ones I visited--Watervliet, Appleton, IP--were much more democratic. I believe that position has reversed, with honourable exceptions such as Appleton. It is perhaps no surprise that Appleton, which is owned by its workers, is expanding, while others, often owned by private equity companies, are finding the future somewhat cloudy.

Another difference is that there is much more open discussion in Europe, especially in the Technical Association local meetings--often ending in invitations to "come and have a look." I get the impression, maybe wrongly, that this openness does not exist so much in North America and that consultants are far more frequently used than in Europe.

When I was sent to manage a mill that we had taken over (from a North American company), I found the lost and down time excessive by our standards. In discussions with the workforce, I found the resentment between production staff, who said that jobs never got done, and maintenance staff who said they could never get on the machine. I asked round the industry and found the most efficient mill in Northern Europe. We were cordially invited to go and see how they did it.

Their method was very simple. They had a small team from production and maintenance, which met each morning to list the problems. These were then divided into those that could be fitted into a short machine break stoppage, those that could be done in a felt change, those that could be done in a grade change and wash up, and those that required a maintenance shut. The list was kept on a big wall chart on the boardroom wall and was updated by the team each morning before the morning meeting. We applied it and it worked, with total lost and down time dropping substantially. Of course, I had to allow a reciprocal visit--but it was well worth-while.

Yours sincerely,

Ian F. Hendry

Longhoughton, Alnwick, Northumberland

England

(TAPPI Fellow, 50-Year TAPPI Member)