He was a tough nut to crack. Getting his approval was like getting approval from God and for which one had to sweat it out.
Well past his 50, he was the Chief Manager (CM) of the operations and maintenance department in the chemical factory where I began my career in the eighties. It was the pre-computerisation era and all records were maintained manually. When we required materials, we checked if they were available in our central stores and would generate purchase requisition (PR) for those that were not in stock, so they could be purchased from the market.
Raising a PR was easy but getting it approved by our CM was the most difficult part. Each time, a PR reached him, he returned it with many queries answering which needed considerable effort and research. In the meanwhile, he would assign a trainee engineer to prepare a list of surplus materials lying in different places. The trainee would go around hawk-eyed and come back with a thorough list and pride of having done a meticulous job.
In a fraction of a second, the CM would scan the list and ask, “Did you check the stock in the offsite area?” That was the only place the trainee would have missed out and be taken aback by the alacrity of the CM who always armed himself with first hand information.
After a thorough exercise, everyone would realise that the required materials were available and drop the idea of buying them. The point the CM drove home was that materials meant money and one had to exercise care before procuring.
When he asked for data, he wanted it to be collected meticulously. None could get away with giving fake data to him as he could see through them with his experience and involvement. He always insisted that materials and tools had to be kept neatly in their assigned places and proper records were maintained. That led to ease of identification, and elimination of unwanted purchases.
When a technician completed a field work, he would visit the spot and pick up sundry materials lying in the vicinity. He would explain to the concerned engineer and technician the importance of housekeeping and tell them that the workplace should be spic and span after a work was completed and it reflected the culture and commitment of the team. He espoused all these best practices much before ISO, Kaizen (Continuous improvement), Lean Management and Computerised Inventory management concepts gained currency in our unit.
The CM also believed that workplace should have proper illumination so that work could be carried out without strain to the eye. In the evening, returning to his residence located in the factory’s township complex, he went on a long walk of eight kms. Before retiring to bed, he would call the shift technicians over intercom phone and ask them why some of the external factory lights were not glowing. During his walks, he would have assessed the condition of the factory from afar.
Now, in his eighties the CM leads a retired life. No wonder, people trained under his strict regimen could learn lessons aplenty and excel in their profession.
