From the Editor
Spring Into Action
Comedian Robin Williams famously said that “Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s Party!’” and, while it is a very tempting notion, Spring can also be our cue to ensure that the rest of the year will be as productive and efficient as possible.
Luis Ayala
There are many reasons why people around the world enjoy the arrival of Spring: it always follows Winter, a time when our bodies can be exposed to uncomfortably-low temperatures and our eyes are deprived of most of the colorful expressions of life from the plant kingdom. Spring also smells of hope, re-birth and new beginnings. Perhaps it is due to these reasons that concepts like “Spring Cleaning” (when people are encouraged to go through their belongings, disposing of old, rarely-used things) are so popular in our societies.
For owners and operators of Distilled Spirits Plants, Spring is the perfect time to conduct equipment maintenance, to do personnel cross-training (ensuring employees from all departments can be called in an emergency to perform duties in different operational areas) and to conduct safety drills.
Operators of sugarcane mills usually work in climates with two seasons only (rain season and dry season) and their Spring is usually the active growing time of the sugarcane, leading up to the beginning of the harvest. During this time, all milling equipment is dismantled, worn-out pieces are replaced or repaired, gears are lubricated, cooling systems are de-scaled, all aimed at ensuring 24/7 operations during harvest season.
Do you have a personal “Spring Cleaning” routine at home? How about at work? If you don’t, how could your professional performance improve if you had one? And if you do, is it comprehensive enough to prevent the most-likely problems from arising during the rest of the year?
Let’s all Spring into action as if our success depends on it, because it does. Cheers!
Luis Ayala,
Editor and Publisher
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rumconsultant