Vent: My old factory floor layout is now a museum piece

I walked into a distribution center in Cleveland last week that I hadn't visited since 2015. It used to be a cramped, noisy space with workers running parts back and forth. Now they got these autonomous carts moving everything in a grid pattern. The old manual forklift area is just roped off like a historical exhibit. Made me realize how fast ops have shifted to this lean flow setup. Has anyone else walked into an old spot and felt like a dinosaur?

2 comments

2 Comments

martin.jamie1mo ago

Walked into my old warehouse last month and saw our ancient shrink-wrap station turned into a display case. Roped off with a little sign like it belongs in a Smithsonian exhibit. Felt old, real old.

wren6521mo ago

Honestly @martin.jamie, that "felt old, real old" part hit me. I had a similar thing happen at my old place when they turned the pallet jack I used for five years into a wall decoration. What worked for me was just taking a picture of it and sending it to the guys I used to work with - we all got a good laugh out of how fast things change. It stings for a second but then it's kind of cool knowing your old station made it to museum status in their eyes.