"Cleaning Up"
Note: Emails are organized in the order received, with first received at the top.
Jim,
In another industry, I worked for a VP that believed that "Cleanliness is not next to Godliness, Cleanliness is next to keeping your job". People trash and old equipment laying around loose was not tolerated. The safety record was outstanding and I believe a lot had to do with his attitude.
Mike Higgins
St. Petersburg, Florida
USA
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Jim:
At dear old, departed, Consolidated, cleanliness was next to godliness. We even had a floor coating that was shiny, but not slippery.
In my mind (and I think we all shared this), we were making clean, white paper. While a dirty mill doesn't necessarily put dirt into the paper, it's an attitude. We used mill visits as a marketing tool. As I moved up the ranks, I began to realize how important cleanliness was. We would do three day seminars with plant visits interspersed with lectures and discussions. We toured our customers with great pride.
I was going to name names, but discretion: we had a visit once from the chairman and president of another white paper company. They hinted at merging (we didn't). I toured them through one of our mills. Operating floor, no surprise, no comment. The stairwell to the exit was open to the basement under the machine. Chairman to president: "Why can't our mills look like this!"
And this was one of the best companies; alas, also dearly departed.
George Mead
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
USA
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