Murphy Was a Plater

This is a repost of something I wrote in Dec but...  Murphy showed up again yesterday in a bad way and I was reminded of this...  I'm sure he'll be back again!  

You’ve heard the expression “Murphy’s Law” of course: “If it can go wrong it will go wrong”. There is however a little known fact that Murphy was a metal finisher early in his career. Yes it’s true. Murphy, like a lot of us, got a job as a plater right out of high school and that’s where his future was shaped and his career path determined.

Here are some of the lessons Murphy learned early on that helped lead him to the notoriety he enjoys, and we suffer, today.

Equipment Issues:
You know as a metal finisher that every piece of equipment in the shop is expensive and subject to all kinds of abuse. A corrosive environment, tough placement on top of, under or next to a tank and usually subject to steam and sweltering heat all summer and damp, freezing cold over the long, long weekends at Christmas and New Years. It is Murphy’s Law that that equipment will fail, break, leak all over the floor or suffer some break down. It has to happen and it will.

Bonus Murphy Points: Have it happen when the most important new customer is coming in to watch you run the 1st order of the super critical parts. Nothing like an audience while the maintenance guys are trying to fix something calibrated and NIST Traceable with duct tape and baling wire.

Building Issues:
Like the equipment (and you) the building you’re in takes a beating. There is no doubt that Murphy will show up here too. The roof will leak, the snow will damage something, the windows will break, a pipe will freeze. Something special will occur at the worst possible time in the worst possible place with the worst possible circumstances.

Bonus Murphy Story: We had an air conditioning unit mounted in a ceiling over the QC Manager’s desk. One hot August day we were pushing it hard and it froze, shutting the unit down. That’s not so funny I know but when the ice melted and all the backed up condensate let go and dumped all over the QC Manager’s desk and the QC Manager that was pretty funny! QC not always being the most popular people in the shop more than a few of the guys got a good laugh out of that one. Not sure if this is where the idea for the “Ice Bucket Challenge” started but that was the visual. Thanks Murph!

Best Intentions:
You know when you finally get around to getting rid of that old tank, solution, equipment, fixture, rack or tooling you spent a lot of money on and haven’t used in 5 years? You decide it’s time to “get this done!” and you launch into eliminating that wasteful crap and finally recapture that valuable space or tank or storage you so need. Within a week whatever it was you got rid of you will need desperately and have to spend thousands of dollars to replace, re-do or otherwise recreate that which you just paid to get rid of… Guaranteed!

Murphy Bonus Points: A lot of times you do this to improve or expand a capability. Make these changes noted above and do something like put in a new 6’ tank. Next phone call will be for a 7’ project. Put in a different red anodizing dye? That customer you haven’t heard from in 6 years will call. That project has been resurrected and it’s huge! You do still have that other red dye right? Whatever you do to improve your place life will end up just so wrong…

Our Employees Are Students of Murphy: 
Our people are always our biggest asset. No doubt about it but in the labor intensive, hands on operator business that metal finishing is, every once in a while you will get “Murphy’d” and it will hurt. If there’s one job that just can’t go wrong that’s the one that will be in the plating tank or paint booth when maintenance shuts off the power. If theres a hole that you absolutely can’t use for racking that will be exactly where the rackers jam the rack. And this happens usually just when you walk into a brief meeting on where the company Christmas party should be, or something else mission critical, and you weren’t there to head that off. Missed it by that much!

Bonus Murphy Points: That job you’ve been waiting for finally comes in and you have the paint! You’ve saved that last gallon of super expensive paint for almost a year just for a opportunity like this and you’re a few short weeks away from the expiration date. One in the win column for you! Except… The lid wasn’t pressed on tight and it’s a solid mass… Of course all that paint you did want to dry out so you could throw it out? Don’t worry that will never turn into a solid!

Murphy Wins Again! Or does he…

I could go on and on with stories, examples and predictions of where and when Murphy will revisit his finishing shop roots but I’m sure you have your own shared experiences with Murphy and his law. If you’re in business you have troubles and you could write your own article, or maybe book, on Murphy and the times he showed up at the worst time.

So Murphy is on the payroll, has his hand in your pocket, lives in the head of your best people and has a sense of timing like no other. All you can do is wait for him to show up.

Or… You can do the best you can and press on.

Anticipate as much as you can the things that can go wrong and punish us. 
Communicate with everyone on the team as much as possible in writing, by email and on the job travelers. 
Repeat warnings relentlessly in meetings, at coffee break and with a late night email when you check FB and Linked In before bed.
Plan, organize and maintain the shop and the equipment with as much foresight and care as possible. Checking and double checking the important components that help you be successful.

Or at the least keep the QC Managers desk in that spot. We did… I promised him it was fixed… A couple of times. If Murphy is coming, and he is, at least we can laugh once in a while. The only way to counter Murphy is to try and stay a step ahead of him and laugh occasionally… This is a laugh or cry business and sometimes you just have to laugh. Someday it’ll be a funny story. Someday!