Well perhaps we can explain mechanize the manual in terms of things that you already know. If you use a car and don’t walk you have mechanized the manual. If you use a washing machine for your cloths and not a washboard, you have mechanized the manual. If you use electric produced by a electric generator machine (the power company) and you no longer light a candle for light, you have mechanized the manual. If you use a furnace (a machine to automatically produce heat) and you no longer build a fire to keep warm then you mechanize the manual. It is really pretty simple.
All we did was to look at the party rental industry and wonder why so many procedures still were being done manually. We knew that the profit of any company was made between the time a top came off the shelf and the time it was returned to the shelf. The more efficient and predictable that could happen the more profit a company could experience. But why were we still loading trucks by hand, why did we still handle each stake individually, why did we still use hammers to drive stakes, why did we use men’s backs to raise center poles and lift tents, why did we send 8 men to a job site when we could send four and a machine, why did we have to send more men to a site on asphalt or concrete, why can’t we control setup times in the rain or wind, why are we still washing with mops and brooms, why are we still hanging tops like grandma used to hang cloths, why were we counting on our men to be give 110% effort day after day in our busy times, why are we trying to hire unskilled temporary labor to staff up for a few moments of peak times. We asked all these “why’s” and many more. We asked them because we felt that machines could be developed to solve these issues. Machines to increase profits, reduce headaches, control and predict the set up of outdoor party rental. This is “mechanizing the manual” for us.
1/31/2011