Occasionally, conditions come together for me to do some lightening of my own.  This past weekend was one of those times.

I was in the middle of an eleven day road trip. It did not make any sense to drive home, so I was in idle mode in Ohio.

Due to various portions of this trip, I had with me four (count them--four!) briefcases, computer bags and so forth that I often take on trips. What was about to happen was planned out from before this trip started.  

I dumped the entire contents of these four bags on my bed. I went through every pocket, took out everything.  I found two pairs of glasses I had been missing.

The ball point pen count was seventeen.  There was a pair of sunglasses for which I have been searching.  It only gets worse from here.

I deliberately dumped it all on the bed so I had to sort it and clean it up before going to bed. My road life will be much better organized going forward. In another year or so, this will need to be done again.

Do this to your mill.  Start in your office, proceed to the control room, and reach to the very furthest reaches of your area of responsibility. Be ruthless.  In your office, or in the control room, empty the drawers, cabinets and desktops, placing everything on the floor in the middle of the room. Sort through it, decide what is needed and what is not.

In the operating space itself, take out all dead items--pumps, piping, tanks, wiring, you name it. Get to the point you can actually see what is important to your operation.  You won't believe what it will do to the performance of your mill.  And, I promise you, it will certainly be lighter.

Does all of this sound like housekeeping?  Yes, it does--but it will pay big dividends if you do it right.