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9. Stop Rewarding Firefighting: How to Build a Manufacturing Culture That Prevents Fires
Every great shop has that one person who stays late, fixes the schedule, and catches the mistake before it ships. This week Paul Barnes and I ask a harder question: why does your system need saving at all?
Firefighting feels productive. There’s an adrenaline rush to the last-minute save, the truck that has to leave at 4 p.m., and the crew grinding late to make it happen. But manufacturing maturity isn’t measured by how well you respond to a crisis. It’s measured by how rarely the crisis happens. Calm doesn’t get applause, but calm builds margin.
We break down what firefighting looks like on…
The skinny
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