25/08/2026
Companies have the multiskilling they deserve!
I have made many industrial visits to my customers in recent months and I am always surprised by this observation.
In a small business with 150 employees, the operators are all capable of operating 3 to 5 different machines.
Across the street or in the next town, in a large company that manufactures very similar products, this is totally impossible.
My contacts explain that it is because the start button is not exactly in the same place, that the manufacturing process is not 100% identical, or that the procedure to follow has specifications.
Or that Marc is authorized to use the RT-5050 but not its cousin, the RT-5040.
After having accompanied many companies, I am no longer convinced by these arguments.
In reality, there are managerial shortcomings in these structures: they prefer to leave things as they are rather than try to change the lines. They let themselves be overwhelmed by procedures that are sometimes very heavy, they don't regularly follow up on operators' training plans, they refuse to "waste" time training someone, etc.
However, when I go to see Marc, I often learn that he has wanted to go on something new and develop new skills for many years.
My advice is then the following: work on your multiskilling! The benefits will be instantaneous.
More generally, remember to train your operators continuously. Otherwise, you may find one day that your last operator who knows how to do an operation has left and that no one else has the skills in-house!
Image credit: The Goal graphic edition (text modified).
