*The following may be boring as hell to some. But I got nothing else to write on today. Cheers*
Today I finished work on a revision of five windows.
Now, sometimes, a revision has come down from the main office before the paper work hits the shop floor. And other times it will come after the material has been cut.
Occasionally, a revision entails either a colour change, change in sizing, or even a change of style altogether.
Normally, a revision doesn't really phase me much because, unfortunately, it has become common practice where I work. But this recent event has me livid and contemplating searching out other avenues of employment. Here's the low down.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in April, an order came across my table listing twelve windows, all panels (single piece of glass as opposed to double pane), with five of them measuring a whopping 88 7/8" x 76 7/8", five @ 88 7/8" x 45, and two easy round top measuring 24" x 40".
*I know for some, this may be hard to picture, but pay attention to the first set of numbers*
Now, within a week, the smaller two were complete, and the other ten were all made except for the glass. Some discussion was going on as to what type of glass to use, and the fact that glass would have to be special ordered as we don't carry anything large enough to accommodate the largest five.
Fast forward two weeks.
The first revision came down.
The colour was being changed from tan to white.
Shit.
This meant that everything had to be scraped (nothing could be reused as it was either bent or already processed. Frame, insert, and expanders all were scraped out.
Great.
Again, within a week, everything was either redone completely or done to the point of waiting on the glass.
That was the end of June.
My glass finally came, and everything was completed the first week of August.
Of course, they weren't shipped until the last part of August.
Now, take a moment and look at things so far, and put yourself in the shoes of the customer.
You've placed an order for 12 custom windows sometime in (probably May).
It's now almost September before you are seeing results.
Ok, got your "mood" on? Get ready for round three.
Thursday, during our coordinators meeting, the production manager informs me that "those (hotel name) windows are coming back."
What? Are you shitting me? wtf?
He continues,"something about they're the wrong size".
I couldn't help myself.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA".
That's right. I sat at the end of the table, opposite our shop boss, and laughed in his face.
The other six at the meeting looked on horrified.
I continued.
"So you're telling me that those 12 windows that were first made in tan four months ago, then again in white three months ago, and only shipped ONE month ago, are freaking wrong?! AGAIN?!? Who's fault is that? Is (parent company) going to try and slip that one on us too???"
"Well, I don't know who measured it. And I won't know how much too big they are until I hear from (home office)".
*in my best Scottish accent:"Well THAT'S just frikkin' great".(it's more impressive if you actually hear it).
So I get into work today, the windows have been off-loaded and the order is sitting on my table.
Now, mind you, this has been in the back of my mind since last week.
"How much could it be?"
"Are we still doing it in white?"
And then, I see them.
The five biggest windows from the project, just sitting there on an A-frame, silently taunting me with their oversized............size. And to the side, the two smaller, easy ones. The ones that have been completed twice before their gi-normous brethren, also seem to have a sense of foreboding. And on the side of the wall, the expanders for the big fukkers.
Of course, the shop boss wasn't in today. But he was nice enough to leave the new order on my work table so I would be sure to "get right on them" first thing this morning.
As I'm looking over the new order, I notice a few things.
First off, this is an entirely new order.
By that, I mean, it's not a re-work order. It's an order as if it was an entirely new product. wtf?
Next, I notice that there is a small notation concerning the two smaller roundtops.
"Raymond, these need to be changed into quarter-rounds, but I don't have that one layed out yet."
Are you freaking kidding me? How does someone fuck THAT up?
First off, someone mis-measures and I make these behemoths too big, and that same someone gave me the wrong shape for two all together?!
*oooooooohhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm*
Ok, I'm composed. I'm in my 'happy place'. Just how much off are these big-ass muther............."Hide the kids. Hide the pets. Something bad is about to happen"
THIRTY INCHES TOO BIG? ARE YOU FREAKIN' SHITTING ME? HOW THE HELL CAN YOU F*CK UP BY THIRTY FREAKIN' INCHES?
I go into the office, carrying this "payload of joy" and slam it on the desk.
"I wanna know who was in charge of this. I want their cell number, I want their exact location at this point in time, and I want you to notify their next of kin!"
Ok, so, it didn't quite go like that.
But believe me, the people that should know,
knew now.
Now, after all that ranting and raving about the stupidity of what has transpired, it only took the better part of a day to cut down those five windows. But it really makes me think about the future.
The company I work for is divided into two companies, in two different states, but owned by one man.
The factory employees maybe 35 people, including three in the office, one salesman, and a retired gentleman who still comes in daily who has the respect of us all.
I don't know about the employee status in the other facility, but all in all, it's a family run business.
The problem is mainly that the CEO feels he has to have his hands in EVERY aspect of the business. He's been in charge for maybe 20 out of the 35(?) years the company has been in operation, and he's still "trying new things" that is really pushing the limits of the shop personelle.
There are even talks that if he goes bankrupt again, there'll be no coming back.
So what's a guy to do?
Working in a factory that hasn't seen ANY profit sharing for at least five years (although the main office has seen profit every year and even "decided to share it's profit with us" one year), is constantly sending down mistakes that are making their way sometimes all the way to the customer, and making obviously horrible business decisions.
The only reason I stay in this town is because my children are now here, and hearing from aunts and uncles of theirs (what can I say? They still love me!), that "those boys really need you".
Being a non-colleged, single income, single dad doesn't have a lot of options in a one horse town.
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