Your Body, Your Asset: Manage it, Maintain it, Protect it.

Like many, I have been on both sides of the health spectrum and at many points in between throughout my life. At the moment, I’m working hard to invest in the future with every bite, literally, and get the most out of aging assets. Work is an integral part of my life and likely yours, too. From my daily experiences on the job, I drew a parallel that changed my life. In this short article, I will share the lens I look through when making decisions about my own health and wellness. 

Regardless of their role, most people I know in manufacturing work long days, nights, weekends and holidays managing precious assets and systems in their facilities. 

I see discipline. Dedication to the equipment. Respect for the process. A drive to improve the performance and efficiency of the machines. For many, it is more than a job. Passion and the challenge to find out what makes that machine or system work at its favorable level is paramount. It’s fed well, oiled, and given a break from time to time. PMs occur at regular intervals. Upgrades are considered if increased performance is a possibility. 

 In my own role(s) selling various equipment and raw materials to manufacturers and processors, I have had the privilege to stand beside many great people and their assets. They get their hands dirty no matter the challenge.  I see the look on their faces when they are victorious in overcoming that challenge. A lot like a runner crossing the finish line or a 3 from half court at the buzzer.

Every facet of industry focuses on programs that give us the most out of the equipment at the lowest possible cost. A well implemented, successful maintenance and reliability program often translates into dollars to the bottom line. 

Run to failure, Preventative Maintenance or Predictive Maintenance? What’s the right approach? (I know- the answer varies based on the assets, criticality and other factors)

The human asset is often not treated as well as the equipment we are responsible for. I frequently see people walk away from a piece of equipment; almost immediately forgetting to apply those same principles to themselves. 

After seeing many maintenance and OpEx programs succeed and grow over the last 20years, I wondered why wasn’t I looking at my own life from this angle to tailor a personal maintenance program? 

So I did just that. I came up with what works for me. The ROI was faster than anticipated and the payback has been better than I ever expected. 

When I support and follow my program, I have significantly more uptime and more to give others. I am also hedging that it will keep Total Cost of Ownership and downtime lower in the coming decades.

Our bodies and minds should not be run to failure. Too many sacrifice their health for their career. No one wants this to happen or plans for it. No employer really wants this from you despite the perception. We have to get better at studying our baselines in order to balance and do a better job maintaining, managing and protecting these precious assets for so many reasons. 

With a hefty work and personal schedule, balance is a daily challenge for me. A few simple habits I’ve established in connection with personal asset management and maintenance follow. Anyone can easily adapt these. 

1. Get your annual physical (Guys, I am talking to you) and teeth cleanings.
2. Food is fuel. 90% of it doesn’t need to taste amazing. Have some rules and be accountable. Mine are simple: Limit bread and noodles, don’t drink your calories, never reward yourself with food and don’t eat after dinner. 
3. Do something everyday to get your heart rate up and move your joints. This ranges from laps around O’Hare, lunges around a parking lot to 2 hours in the gym. 
4. Do personal failure and root cause analysis. Often. 
5. Get the stress out. Talk about your feelings(Again,guys). Mind and body fitness are critical to overall effectiveness. 
6. Laugh and have fun. Flood your brain with happy, even on the toughest days. Help your to brain make critical chemicals and neurotransmitters that keep you healthy in mind, body and soul.
7. Sleep, enough. 
8. Meet your body where it is everyday and do your best at anything you attempt. Your actual best will differ from day to day.
9. Know your limits. Work to push them, intelligently. 
10. Set the tone with your employer that personal uptime is your priority. I am lucky, my employer is very supportive of my commitment to staying healthy. If yours doesn’t respect and encourage this, find a new employer.

By the way, I estimate 80% compliance in my case and am working to eek out a few more percentage points in 2019.

I hope that this article has given you a slightly different viewpoint on processes and principles many of us are familiar with it at the office or plant and how they can translate into a higher Overall Human Effectiveness (OHE) and a healthier longer lasting asset for you, personally.

If you thoughts on this topic, I’d welcome your input. If you found this article interesting, I’d appreciate you sharing it. 

Jill is an Area Sales Manager with TOMRA Sorting, Inc. in the Midwest and has been closely working with companies to provide solutions for the Food, Beverage, Consumer Packaged Goods and Engineered Resin markets for almost 20years.