mfg OMG

Yesterday in picking up 55 gallon plastic drums to use for sawdust in the ESSA wood shop, I visited a small manufacturing plant in Springdale, Arkansas where about 30 women were busy making and packaging scented bath salts. The pace of their work was mind boggling. It made me wonder how hands could  be trained to move so fast. The shop foreman said the women workers were like robots. He said that they were happy to develop their speed and expertise because if they got their quota done they got to go home early.

At the head of the operation, women were weighing ingredients and others were mixing them by hand with unrestrained vigor. Then, when thoroughly mixed, the materials were distributed to pairs of workers. One measured exact scoops into a die and another placed the die in a press, slapped two buttons (one with each hand) while the press dropped down to form a ball of bath salts. The woman operating the press lifted the die, and rolled the ball out into a tray, with each tray holding a precise number of balls.

From there the balls went into a drying room where the humidity and heat were carefully controlled for hardening. 46,000 balls a day. The balls upon hardening would bounce off a concrete floor if you were to throw them.

Packaging came next. From this small plant, packaged bath salt balls are distributed throughout the US, and with increasing production, the world.

What I could not describe from my visit would be the overwhelming scent of the fragrances added and the furious pace at which production takes place.

I was reminded of my own time operating a punch press in a manufacturing line. A shop manager in white shirt and tie watched me as he made notes on his clipboard. He commented on the speed of my work and noted that if all worked at that speed they'd do well. I informed him that it was my last day.

In the meantime, there are people who need to work are willing to develop skill and make money and are proud to serve their families. They deserve that we be proud of them.

Clear Spring School is out today due to severe cold and the icy road remnants of our winter storm. I will be preparing for my trip to Rochester, New York on Friday where I will make an evening presentation and teach a one day class. I am also building a new dust collection separation box for the planers at ESSA.

In Washington, DC, our legislators are about to shut down government because they failed to learn the basic lesson of Kindergarten: how to get along with each other and treat each other with respect. Some in one particular party think it is perfectly acceptable to disparage and demean large portions of our society and other nations and then lie about having done so. I wish they all had been able to attend the Clear Spring School where they might have learned more about character and integrity.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning likewise.