By Jim Pilgrim
If you have read any of my blogs in the past you know that I travel all over the country. You also know that I drive most of the time given that my meetings are usually spread out and it’s the most efficient way for me to make my meetings with the demo equipment that I need to show my customers. In one of my many trips through Iowa I noticed one night that all the obstruction lights on a wind turbine farm were synchronized.
That got me thinking; I have nothing much to do BUT think when I’m driving 75,000+ miles per year, ha. Why are they synchronized I thought? I guess it makes sense, rather than having 50 random blinking red lights. This could be confusing to an airline pilot. After I returned home from that trip, I did a little research online; I have nothing much better to do when I get home on the weekend than to get online and do research on red blinking lights, ha just kidding. It seems that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the DOE (Department of Energy) did a study back in 2005 that determined among other things that synchronizing the warning (obstruction) lights on large wind farms was less confusing and therefore safer for potential air traffic.
Besides the fact that most of those wind turbines have fiber connected to them for telemetry and other communication requirements, what has that got to do with our industry? Well, it has everything to do with all industries.
Without a clearly defined strategy, mission or goal, a company will have less chance for success. That vision starts at the top, just like those flashing red lights on top of the wind turbines. If a company is not in sync from the upper management to every worker, it will lead to confusion, inefficiency, and a potential “plane crash”.
There are so many aspects and departments in a company that don’t know what the others do, that can lead to animosity and rivalry between departments. Sales vs. production, engineering vs. sales, sales vs. accounting, funny how sales are always involved.
Are those red flashing lights synchronized at your company?