在 20 世紀 60 年代中期，我們生產了一種行李艙底板 Gillfab 5040，它以鋁皮和端紋輕木為芯材製成。作為流程的一部分，我們在第 4 條生產線上用溶劑化粘合劑噴塗鋁皮和輕木芯。然後我們將材料沿著生產線運行，並用熱量（紅外線燈）驅除溶劑。每隔一段時間（我在生產部門工作時實際上是兩次）其中一根紅外線管會破裂並發出火花。這會點燃溶劑，火焰會貫穿噴塗線的整個長度，並最終進入噴房。展位上有過噴，會著火。
The first time it happened I rushed over to the line while someone called the fire department. Everyone in the building was fighting the fire. We ran around with the fire extinguishers, shooting them here and there as more solvent escaped from the balsa. When the fire department arrived, they hosed everything down with water and that put out the fire. There was some damage to the facilities and besides the scrap we’d lost a day’s production.
Later, reflecting on what had happened, I thought that our response had been disorganized and nobody had taken charge and as a result, there was more damage than there should have been. I decided that if that ever happened again, I would not fight the fire. Instead, I’d find a place where I could see what was happening and direct a coordinated effort from there.
A while later, maybe a year or two, I was sitting in my office on the shop floor and I heard the “pop” and “whoosh” and I knew we had another fire on our hands. I rushed out of my office and over to Line 4. There was a short stack of fiberglass cloth boxes next to the line and I climbed up on top of them and could see the whole production line and the fire.
By seeing the whole picture, I was able to take control of the situation and coordinate all of our efforts to fight the fire. It was a short fight and we won, easily. We decided to get rid of IR as the heat source and changed to a steam-heated radiator. There hasn’t been another fire on that line in over 40 years.
The key takeaway to me was, “When there’s a problem, don’t panic. Get an overall view of the situation and direct the response”. I have used that philosophy in many situations over the years and it has worked well for me.
吉爾公司
簡單街4056號
埃爾蒙特, CA 91731-1087 美國
電話：626-443-4022
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