Industrial Talk is onsite at SMRP 31 and talking to Brian Hronchek, Principal Trainer at Eruditio about "In the oversaturated world of Technology it always gets down to the people".
Scott MacKenzie and Brian Hronchek discuss the importance of people in industrial innovation and the challenges faced in the reliability, maintenance, and asset management sectors. Brian shares his background, including his service in the Marines and transition to the reliability field at US Steel. They highlight the disconnect between the availability of technology and the lack of trained personnel, attributing it to a shift in corporate focus from employees and customers to shareholders in the 1970s. Brian emphasizes that investing in employee training and development can increase retention and productivity. They conclude that a cultural shift towards valuing people is crucial for long-term success in industry.
Action Items
[ ] Connect with Brian Hronchek on LinkedIn.
[ ] Highlight Brian's company Eruditio or solutions on the industrial talk podcast.
[ ] Attend the next SMRP conference for asset management, maintenance, and reliability professionals.
Outline
Introduction and Conference Overview
Scott MacKenzie welcomes listeners to the Industrial Talk podcast, emphasizing the focus on industrial professionals and their innovations.
Scott highlights the current location at SMRP's 31st annual conference, noting the significant presence of technology and people.
Scott encourages listeners to visit smrp.org for resources related to reliability, maintenance, and asset management.
Scott introduces Brian Hronchek, who is attending the conference for the first time, and asks for his first impression.
Brian Hronchek's Background and Military Experience
Brian shares his professional journey, starting with his service in the Marines from 1997 to 2007, where he worked on F-18 aircraft.
Brian met his wife, an engine mechanic, during his time in the Marines, and they started a family in 2000.
Brian was selected for an officer program and attended Purdue University, where he earned an aerospace engineering degree.
Brian's military experience, particularly in the infantry, helped him develop strong people skills, which he later applied in the reliability profession.
Transition to Reliability and Industry Challenges
Brian discusses his transition to Exelon as a maintenance manager, where he was introduced to reliability but found it poorly implemented.
Brian applied for a reliability position at US Steel and quickly realized the importance of reliability principles, which aligned with his military experience.
Scott and Brian discuss the challenges of embracing reliability and asset management within organizations, emphasizing the need for continuous education.
Brian explains the root cause of these challenges, tracing it back to the shift in corporate focus from employees and customers to shareholders in the 1970s.
Impact of Corporate Focus on Training and Maintenance
Brian attributes the decline in training and maintenance to the influence of Milton Friedman and the shift towards shareholder focus.
Scott shares a personal experience of a company going public and the immediate change in focus from customers to shareholders.
Brian and Scott discuss the disconnect between the need for trained personnel and the reluctance of organizations to invest in training and retention.
Brian emphasizes the importance of understanding where real value is created, such as job planning and work request processes, rather than focusing solely on technology and data.
The Role of Training and Retention in Organizational Success
Brian argues that investing in training and retaining employees actually increases their loyalty and commitment to the organization.
Scott acknowledges the counterintuitive nature of this idea but agrees that proper training and valuing employees can lead to better retention.
Brian shares an insight from an interview with Sam Sorbo, who defined wealth as the transfer of knowledge, highlighting the value of investing in employees' education.
Scott and Brian discuss the need for a cultural shift in organizations to prioritize training and people over short-term profit gains.
Conclusion and Contact Information
Scott and Brian conclude the conversation by emphasizing the importance of people and culture in achieving success in reliability and asset management.
Brian provides his contact information, including his website and LinkedIn profile, for listeners interested in connecting with him.
Scott encourages listeners to visit smrp.org and get involved in the community to learn more about reliability, maintenance, and asset management.
The podcast wraps up with a reminder of the upcoming SMRP conference and the importance of continuous learning and collaboration in the industrial field.
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Scott. Welcome to the Industrial Talk podcast with Scott. MacKenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting-edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots and let's go all right
00:21
once again. Thank you very much for joining Industrial Talk. Thank you very much for your continued support of a platform that is dedicated to industrial professionals all around the world. Because you're bold, you're brave, you dare greatly, you innovate, you collaborate, you solve problems, you are making the world a better place each and every day, and that's why we celebrate you on Industrial Talk. And as you can tell, maybe there's some buzz in the background. In the background. We are at SMRP’s 31st, annual conference. It is the biggest one yet, and there's a lot of individuals around here that are focused on solving those challenges that you have in industry. And it's awesome, awesome to see a lot of technology, but we always talk about people, because it's always gets down to people, and because you want to be and you're listening to this, you need to be involved in whatever reliability, maintenance and asset management your first stop is SMRP.org SMRP.org they have everything you need to get going and keep the conversation rolling. And speaking of which, we have a gentleman by the name of Brian Eruditio is the company, and let's get a crack, and we're gonna be talking people and among other things, Brian, you have a good day.
01:26
I'm having a great day. How
01:27
are you good? Good conference.
01:29
That's great.
01:30
Were you here last year? I
01:32
I've been a CMRP since about:
01:42
What's your first impression? That's pretty
01:44
cool. Oh, it's incredible. It's incredible. Lots lots of good information, lots of good technology boosts and everything else like that. And met a lot of interesting people today.
01:56
I like the fact that, okay, you have the vendors here. Yes, they are. They're right here. We're right in the middle of the floor, and it's a, it's a, it's an exciting place to be, but I enjoy the fact that there's just the the participants there. They're right in the trenches. They're trying to make sure their operations are running, you know, without drama that you know, and deploying all of the things that we, you know, talk about here at SMRP. And it's really nice to see it and and as I look out that it's very collegial, and everybody's talking and very smiling, but there's just this real desire to help. So that's what I like, before we get into the conversation, give us a little background on who Brian is.
02:44
Well, you know, being here is, I'll say, a bit of a miracle, right, right? I started professionally in the Marines back in 97 Oh, wow. Thank
02:56
you for your service. Full career there, you
02:58
rted our family back, back in:
05:42
And I have to ask this, I'm not trying to be negative or anything. It because you're you're wired that way, which is pretty cool. I like that because there's, it is a, it is a passion for education and continuous education. Don't, don't miss you know that that's the reality, because it the world of reliability, asset management, maintenance and all things in between is constantly evolving and changing and moving right? Yeah, great, very cool. But the reality is, is that there is some frustrations, and why? See you get it. Other people don't, right, explain that.
06:21
And when you mean frustrations, which ones do you mean just, just
06:25
the embracing, the embracing, just in organizations. And it's always a people. It's never, yeah, I can find a vibration, you know, device, and I can stick it out there, and I can start pulling data, and I could do all of that. It's, all there, it's all here. I can align a motor with there's laser alignment. I can do all that, the technologies, the technology, and it is superior, but
06:52
what we find is that in about:
09:15
you an example. I was fortunate to be part of a team that took the company public. Great, cool before, you know, day one or prior to going public, we were, you know, just pinpoint focus on customers, pinpoint focus on solving their problems and solutions and doing what we need to do. And that was just part of it, but the the strategy of going public was necessary to expand and grow and all the stuff that is necessary for business. When we finally, you know, signed a deal and and said, Now we're, you know, we're public company. Our focus instant. Continuously changed from customers to shareholder, because the shareholders had all the leverage, and they wanted to, they wanted us to expand and do whatever, and I want money from, you know, that type of stuff that was like instant, and they always, I'm a shareholder, don't trust me. Complaint, yeah? And so, you know that squeaky wheel concept that always happens. Yeah, that's very interesting, and I like that. Yes.
10:25
I mean, we're surrounded by great, incredible technology, but we've all been trained that technology is the answer, and then our executives see technology as the answer, and data is the answer to where I can't even go talk to somebody and tell them what I do. I say, you know, well, we do education first consulting. We train people how to change their organizations. Oh, you mean that's a CMMS integration? Oh, you mean the big data? No, we change people. Oh, it's just like the connection can't even be made almost today, it's hard, it's hard
10:55
to get there. Do you think the that that people equation. Everybody is struggling to find people. Is still a necessity, yes, but I find that there's a disconnect between I need people, but I'm not willing to do what is necessary to train and retain right as much as I possibly can. That's a That's a change within my organization, which I'm not, that's, that's sort of the rub. I need people, but I'm not willing to do what is necessary to get the people and retain the people right and train the people, which makes complete and utter sense. Yeah, totally right. Yeah. And do you think a lot of that has and so I'm left with, I need technologies, because I need to get more out of my whatever technology, because I can't find people, right?
11:44
Yeah. So that is, I mean, it's like not understanding the root cause means that we're looking for a solution that might be a band aid and it might be a temporary band aid, but it's not a solution. It's just temporarily putting a finger in the dam while three other cracks open up. Yeah. So the this is a huge gap, right? There's a huge gap. And the question is, how do we close it? Because you're not going to change the culture. You're certainly not going to change it overnight. If somebody else, like Milton Friedman got up today and said, Hey, we're wrong, we need to turn the other direction. It might take another 30 or 40 years to get there. Yeah, right, but that's not going to happen today. So what do we do today?
12:20
What do we do today? What how do we how do we close that gap? Because it's the reality of it and I and it just has to happen,
12:30
right? And so, so for all the executives out there, you know, you guys know what you can do if you understand this, you know most of, most of us, or most of them don't. So really, this is for the front line. This is for the maintenance managers. This is for the plant managers, right? First of all is understanding where real value is created, right? OEE is a result profitability as a result. I can't touch profitability. I can't touch it with my hands. Yeah, right. I can't even touch pm compliance with my hands. What I can do is I can touch a job plan. I can write a job plan. I can put a kit in a box. I can request work as I identify it, right? I can do those types of things. I can do things with my human hands that create action, and those actions cascade into the results that we want.
13:26
Here's the challenge. If I was an executive and I'm willing to invest in educating, training, cultural and effectively working on the culture of my organization, I'm all in. I guarantee you, I'm thinking about, well, I'm going to invest all this time, energy and effort, and they're going to leave, sure, and, and, and I think it's stems from the the Milton Friedman example, right? Like they're not, you know, they're not beholden to me. I'm not beholden to them. And because the market is the way the market is, I'm ready to bolt. Yeah, I've got more skills. I have more value. They're not going to pay me, but I can go over here and get paid. Yeah? So how do we deal with that? Because it does happen. Yeah, the
14:19
first and the first thing, the first thing I would say is, is that right now, in the vacuum of no training, nobody focuses on people, the best way to get a raise or get promoted is to jump to a different company. It is so you're saying to me, I don't want to train you because you might leave, but they're leaving because you're not training right? And what we've actually seen on the ground is the exact opposite of what's intuitive. If my company invests time and money into me, I really enjoy that. I really want to be effective. I want to have that impact out on the floor and know that my life is meaningful. And so I stay right. So I stay. Because you trained me, I stay because you value me, and if I go somewhere else, they're not going to value
15:05
me. But to the reality is, yes, and I agree with you 100% and I think that that's really counterintuitive, and I think that we've, we've sadly, drank that Cooley that, hey, if I get trained, then they're going to go to some other place, and somebody's going to say, hey, they've invested. It's cheaper for me, blah, blah, blah. But the reality is, as executives, the reason they they move so much is because they're receiving their training on the job as an executive. And they're going to go to and they're every bit as mobile as anybody else you know, three to five years max, and they're gone. Yeah, that's the truth. So it's really just an interesting but it's but what I hear, what I see in this conversation, is one, it's definitely, it's definitely a people equation. It is. And how you do that? Yeah, go ahead.
15:57
There was one thing that I heard that changed, that totally flipped my mind. And it was about about two years ago. Now, it was an interview. You remember the old TV show Hercules in the 90s? Yeah? Kevin Sorbo, yeah. So him and his wife are still very active on the, you know, public scene. Sam Sorbo was on an interview that's his wife's name. Sam Sorbo, she was on an interview on The Epoch Times, and she made a statement that actually just blew my mind. And she said wealth has nothing to do with money. She said wealth is created through the transfer of knowledge. I agree with Yeah, and I, and I, it took me a minute, and I was like, Wait a minute. I understand, you know, money and the economy, stuff moving, whatever. But she's 100% right, wealth is created through the transfer of knowledge. That's why we pay so much to go to school. I need that knowledge because that is value that I can now inject back into society, right? And if I, if I share something with my kids morals with my kids, that is value that they will then inject back into society, right? And so if the company invests in me, that is value that I can now inject back into society. So is it? Is it totally perfect as 100% you're gonna stay No, but you know what you're still contributing to the Yeah,
17:12
see, that's a great that that I like that a lot. It's not, it's not without value, right? And, and if you have from, from if I owned a business, and if I had a humble heart and yeah, and a desire to truly create a business that has resilience, there is no way I can do it being sort of old school in the way I look at the business and and I have to recognize that I have to change. Yeah, the culture has to change and be more in line with the way we look at the world today. And training has to be fundamental. And do that with a happy heart, not with, you know, a heart of, you know, like, I don't care. Yeah, for real. So how do people get a hold of you, my friend?
18:04
So I'm at Eruditio, you can get the Eruditio.com or I'm on LinkedIn, look me up on LinkedIn. Are
18:12
you on LinkedIn? Pretty active, not
18:14
so active, but I'll answer some messages. Active. Yeah. Thank you.
18:19
I will. I will definitely pull up your LinkedIn stat card and have it out on Industrial Talk so that people will connect via LinkedIn for
18:27
you. All right. Thanks, Scott.
18:30
All right. We are broadcasting once again at SMRP, 31st, annual conference here in Orlando, the biggest ever. Right now, if you are in the world of asset management, or if you have a desire to be in asset management, maintenance or reliability, go out, your first stop would be SMRP.org make that happen, go out to an SMRP.org and get engaged. You will not be disappointed. You get to meet great people like Brian and others that are really passionate about, you know, impacting the world in a positive way. We're going to wrap it up on the other side. Thank you very much again for joining. We will be right back.
19:11
You're listening to the Industrial Talk Podcast Network
19:21
that's Brian, Eruditio is the company the event was SMRP. And if you're in the world of asset management, maintenance and reliability, that is the event for you. The next one is just right around the corner, so make sure that you put that on your calendar. It's in Orlando, and it's gonna be a barn burner for sure. We were talking about people. We were talking about culture. And I don't care what type of technology you have, the technology is the technology, if you don't have the right training, people, culture, you're not going to get the most out of that solution, or those solutions. Options, so make sure that you make a note of that. All right, you have a podcast, or thinking about a podcast, you need to talk to me. You need to put it out on Industrial Talk. If you have a technology or solution, you need to talk to me. You need to highlight that solution or technology out on Industrial Talk. That's the go to All right. Be bold, be brave, dare greatly. Hang out with Brian. Change the world. We're gonna have another great conversation shortly. So stay tuned.
