Stoppages, Sketchpens, and a Culture Under Question : Diary Entry - 21st May 2025

Safety First - Always

The morning meeting was brief but meaningful.

Today, Mr. Yendabre, our Safety Officer, gave a live demonstration of fire extinguisher use. Simple, practical, and much needed. Many workers hadn’t held an extinguisher before, let alone used one. Watching the CO₂ blast out of the nozzle and the red cylinder hiss into action triggered curiosity and confidence alike.

Following that, Mr. BVKR suggested a mock drill this coming Saturday for all workers. I took it a step further and advised a comprehensive full-scenario mock drill - one that allows us to review our Emergency Response System (ERS). It’s important we don’t reduce such exercises to tick-box events. A realistic drill can reveal gaps that are invisible on paper - from communication delays to role confusion and exit-route bottlenecks.

---

Performance or the Lack of It

The morning’s energy could not soften the sting of last evening’s performance review. Honestly, yesterday was the worst day so far in terms of operations:

  •  Kiln #1: 6 stoppages
  •  Kiln #2: 7 stoppages
  •  Raw Mill #1: 5 stoppages
  •  Raw Mill #2: 7 stoppages

In total, 25 stoppages in a single day. That’s an entire month's worth of disruption compressed into one calendar day.

And just to add to the stress, both Raw Mills have been down since last night. No feed -> No buildup in silos -> No buffer stock -> More complications around the corner.

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Root Causes and Rotten Culture

The team has been analysing causes - some genuine, some superficial.

But one deep-rooted inefficiency that keeps surfacing is the 2-hour lunch break. Yes - 12 noon to 2 PM.

I’ve worked across plants in India, Bangladesh, and now here in Africa - but this one still feels like the strangest operational culture I’ve encountered.

With a shift time of 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, a 2-hour mid-day break carves the workday into disjointed halves. Worse, it turns post-lunch sessions into sluggish recovery zones.

In a continuous process plant, such a long break disrupts rhythm, delays maintenance handovers, and creates operational blind spots.

Sadly, it’s no longer a break - it’s a culture. And cultures are harder to break than habits.

“If inefficiency becomes a culture, performance becomes a casualty.”

---
The Joy of Sketchpens and Sharing

Amid the chaos, a brief escape into color and creativity lifted my mood.

In one of the Cement WhatsApp groups, a member asked for a flowsheet of a preheater with an uncommon cyclone arrangement. I couldn’t resist. Took out my sketchpens and drew the layout - different colors for different stages:

I posted it in the group, and soon, likes, claps, and thanks poured in. I felt recharged.


[Cement plant preheater with 1st stage: 2nos cyclone, 2nd stage: 2nos cyclone, 3rd stage: 1no cyclone: 4th stage 2nos cyclone and With calciner.]

It reminded me that amidst the pressures of leadership, we must keep doing the little things we love. They help reset the inner self, much like maintenance resets a failing gearbox.

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Cloudy Skies, Cloudy Thoughts

The weather echoed the mood - cloudy, grey, unsettled.

Inside the plant and inside my mind - both were caught in their own versions of overcast skies.

Yet, every storm passes. And every cloudy day brings us a step closer to clarity.

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Key Points of the Day:

1. Fire extinguisher demo by Safety Officer Mr. Yendabre.

2. Mock drill proposed by Mr. BVKR - I suggested making it a full-scale ERS review.

3. Worst performance day recorded:

    Kiln #1: 6 stoppages

    Kiln #2: 7 stoppages

    Raw Mill #1: 5 stoppages

    Raw Mill #2: 7 stoppages

4. Both raw mills still down since last night - threatening silo levels.

5. Called out the 2-hour lunch break culture as a major productivity killer.

6. Sketchpen-drawn preheater flow-sheet created and shared in WhatsApp group - appreciated by many.

7. Overall cloudy weather, matching the operational mood.

8. HOD meeting held; visited the store.

[Safety Officer, Mr. Yendabre is giving demo how to use fire extinguisher of various types and in situations.]

“Not every day is bright, but every day is a chance to fix what went dark.”

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