Page 14 of Factory Reset

I’d seen the resistance that Cassie got from some of the workers. People who figured she didn’t know what she was doing because she was hired by the suits, because she was a woman, or because she wasn’t from around here. Pick the excuse. But she didn’t seem to let it bother her. No doubt she dealt with the same shit everywhere she went, because she didn’t hesitate to respond to Jimmy’s comment.

“How about you guys just humor me and try it my way for a little while.”

It was phrased like a question, but Cassie’s firm tone clearly conveyed it was an order. She met their eyes, one by one, not backing down.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll go back to the drawing board.”

When the team continued to stare at her she added, “Remember, I’m on the same side as you here, I’m just trying to get corporate off your asses so you can keep the factory here in town.”

After a pregnant pause Leo spoke up. “Well then little missy, let’s see what your idea is.”

Cassandra

I stifled a sigh of relief at Leo’s capitulation. He might be the weakest link on the team in terms of performance, but he still commanded respect as their longest term staff. George had told me he’d pretty much trained every person who worked here, including him.

Unrolling three pieces of chart pack paper, I set them on the conveyor belt where the team could see my proposed new processes.

“My theory is if we do this here,” I said, pointing at the diagram, “and reverse these two processes, then use this part instead of that one, we’ll cut a minute off our average production time.”

“A whole minute, wow!” Jimmy said sarcastically. “I hope the suits are paying you well for that incredible breakthrough.”

George bristled next to me, and I subtly stepped in front of him. I didn’t need him to fight my battles, I’d had some variation of this conversation at every place I’d ever consulted for. Although I did appreciate him having my back.

“There are four hundred eighty minutes in an eight-hour shift,” I started. “After lunch and breaks, we have four hundred twenty minutes. On average, this part of the process takes ten minutes, and you can have ten carburetors in process at once, so you’re doing about sixty of these an hour. If it took nine minutes, you would average sixty-six point seven parts an hour. That’s an increase of just under forty-seven parts per shift, and since there are three shifts, it's an increase of nearly one hundred forty-one per day.”

I flipped over to show them the calculations on one of the bottom sheets. The group studied the math for a few long seconds before Lillian’s face broke into a big smile.

“Well damn, show us how this works!”

The rest of the day passed quickly. We spent three solid hours perfecting the new process until we had the output matching my calculations. It was a simple solution, one that didn’t put any additional stress on the team but helped improve their output significantly. By the time their shift ended, the team was ebullient.

“We’ve gotta go get a beer to celebrate our success,” Jimmy said, putting a beefy arm around my shoulder. “He’d come around after I’d proven that I was right.”

George made a noise that sounded like a bear growling, and Jimmy quickly dropped his arm and took a comically big step away from me. I shivered at the possessive look George sent my way.

“Shall we all meet at LJ’s?” Leo asked, breaking the tension.

“Sounds good.”

I would need to teach the changes to the other two shifts too, but first I wanted this team to perfect it and make sure we weren’t missing anything crucial. I had the quality control inspector triple checking everything that came off the line to make sure that George and I hadn’t overlooked something. I felt good about what we had accomplished today. Even without the other ideas I had, these changes were going to make a big difference for the people working here.

LJ’s was a hole in the wall place just at the edge of town. The parking lot was gravel with a huge patio where all the smokers were congregated underneath a bright “Lone Star Beer” sign. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot George’s truck pulled in behind me, parking in the space next to mine. I met him by my trunk.

“Good job today,” he said with a smile. “Really, that was incredible.”

His praise meant a lot to me. George was nothing if not painfully honest. He said what he meant and meant what he said, even if it sometimes pissed people off. So when he said ‘good job’, I knew he truly meant it.

The rest of the team was pulling up chairs around a large table at the side of the bar when George and I walked in, our shoulders nearly touching. I resisted the urge to thread my fingers through his.

I headed to a chair in the middle of the long side of the table, and George immediately took the chair next to mine, then Lillian sat on my other side. A waitress hustled over as soon as we sat down. She looked vaguely familiar, like a lot of people in town.

“Hey boys and Lillian,” she greeted the table before turning to me. “I’m Chrissy. We haven’t officially met, but I was standing across from you yesterday at the Piggly Wiggly when you were picking out cucumbers.”

I gave her a friendly smile. This wasn’t my first time in a small town, I knew how things worked.

“Hey Chrissy, I’m Cassandra. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well. You’re the efficiency expert working down at the factory.”