Flashback

Flashback President's Message

October 1994

By Pete Peterson

(Editor’s note: The Oct. 1994 issue of Springs was centered on the theme of “Evolving Management Techniques.” A. H. “Pete” Peterson, SMI president from 1993-1995, argued nearly three decades ago that management techniques should be considered in any discussion of technology breakthroughs. Ponder Pete’s message in light of this issue of Springs and its focus on “Advances in Springmaking.”) Dear SMI member, we need to take a couple of lessons from two very different examples: the dinosaurs and our Founding Fathers.

We can learn from the dinosaurs that failure to adapt means failure in general.

From the patriots and constitutionalists who formed our country, we can learn that some acts and philosophies can have a very broad and long-lasting impact on the future.

Now here’s why these two lessons are germane to this issue of Springs magazine.

Our industry was founded years ago by metalformers who simply coiled wire into helical shapes and added some rudimentary end finishing operations. Today, we are adapting to manufacturing technologies that hold wire position to extremely close tolerances. Although we’re traveling the road to adaption better than the dinosaurs did, our brains are stuck back in the tar pit.

You see, while all we know about technology is becoming more important in our industry, most of us include under the exciting heading of “technology” only those developments that pertain to new machinery and equipment and the software for programming it. We don’t think of management techniques as technology. The most important single change that can be made by the owner or management people of a spring company would probably be to change his or her perception of the role of management.

This can hurt us badly. The most important single change that can be made by the owner or management people of a spring company would probably be to change his or her perception of the role of management. Unfortunately, this change in thinking won’t come easily, as it runs against some pretty important psychological baggage those people are carrying around. If we’re not excited about the prospect of our own extinction, however, we need to get in tune with the new philosophies of management’s role.

As you read about the management practices of the past and the present, and think about the challenges in your company’s future, consider what the role of management will need to become. n