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Some of the best innovations I have seen, in terms of improving productivity, efficiency and profitability had nothing to do with advanced science, mathematics or any other sophisticated subject. It had to do with housekeeping, orderliness and imparting high standards.

Now, in my dotage (an accusation made by some people, though I reject it), I can usually walk in a mill and in a few minutes tell you, qualitatively, how it is running. In extreme cases, I have to get no further than the parking lot. In one severe case in a coastal southern US city, all you have to do is get within three blocks of the place.

Unfortunately, especially when engineers and pulp and paper scientists are involved, they are biased towards more science, more math, more technology to rescue them from dismal performance. If they don't have the basics right, this focus, while being fun to execute and costing lots of money, will not help.

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I have written many times about housekeeping over the years, for I know it to be the least costly, easiest to implement process to right a sinking ship. Well, maybe not the easiest to implement (although it should be)--because it involves changing people's habits.

I don't care which method you use--my old friend's LOC (Lean, Orderly and Clean) principles or the now popular "5S" process--there is no faster and more economical way to improve performance. It is also helpful to have some old sailors around (of any rank from non-coms through officers). The navy knows how to keep things clean and orderly because ships have only a limited amount of space and personnel are asked to do intense tasks flawlessly. No room for a "bone yard" on a ship.

Locations unkempt and disorganized cost money. They cost money in many ways--from spending time looking for things you need to being a breeding ground for accidents.

Fixing unkempt and disorganized facilities saves money--boatloads of it. Not only can you find things when you need them, you know what is important, for the important things are the only ones that are left. You also get a "Frederick Taylor" effect when you clean up your facility--the employees naturally raise their standards and improve their efficiency.

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So, it is simple--before you launch any sophisticated innovation program, make sure you have innovated your entire way of doing business and have the simple steps right. Pick the easy low-hanging fruit before you get excited about the golden apples on the higher branches.

Some will say housekeeping is not their job, they were not hired to do such mundane tasks. They will post silent protests around their work space--you know the signs--those that praise a messy desk. Such a position is defenseless--it has been proven time and again that disorganization costs money.

I feel so strongly about this, that I think it should be probably the second metric discussed on performance reviews (the first being safety). It falls in the "two can'ts" method of management--if you can't organize your area of responsibility, you can't stay.

What do you think about a hard stance on housekeeping? You can let us know by taking our quiz this week--right here.
For safety this week, we know a cluttered workspace is an unsafe workspace. Fix it.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

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