Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1282913
6 / September 2020 powderbulk.com INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE PBE Editor's note: This is one of a series of commentaries by Powder and Bulk Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board members and other experts. The editorials express the individual writer's views of trends affecting powder and bulk industries today. Powder and Bulk Engineering welcomes your response. A s I write this, the US and many other coun- tries are dealing with the health and economic crises related to the coronavirus. To state the obvious, the situation has touched almost all of us in a significant way. Some have contracted the illness or have lost loved ones from related complications, and my sincerest condolences go out to those affected. Society also struggles with new economic and life- style paradigms related to high unemployment and widespread lockdown. Working and schooling from home has presented new challenges for many of us and has forced many uncomfortable adjustments. Even when a work environment can be ideally established at home, working from home is only conducive to cer- tain tasks. Thankfully, several new tools and digital infrastructure have been paramount in enabling a sig- nificant share of the workforce who aren't categorized as "essential personnel" to stay productive while work- ing from home. Personally, I've found that today's electronic con- ferencing, file-sharing, and collaboration tools have been generally quite good for many tasks. But most of 2020 has been a strong reminder to me on how much of my work doesn't exist purely in the digital domain. An in-person plant site visit or tour is one of the most valuable components of my work for which there's no digital substitute. I find that being able to witness a solids process firsthand allows for insights that sim- ply can't be obtained otherwise. I routinely extend the adage that a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth 1,000 pictures, and a visit to a plant site is worth 1,000 videos. The value of a firsthand account surely isn't unique to processes that involve solids, but the value does seem more pronounced for such processes, in my humble opinion. An area walkdown is one of the best opportunities to evaluate how a particular process operates or to troubleshoot a specific problem. More of our senses are engaged, and spatial awareness is infinitely better than what's afforded by equipment diagrams, pictures, and explanations. Many of us can probably recall a specific observation in the field that was imperative to under- standing a process or for identifying and implementing improvements. The "hammer rash" on a bin or cyclone, the appearance of dust layers in unexpected places, the stepladder that mysteriously returns to an interesting spot beneath a piece of equipment — all tell stories that may be important. The current remote work situation reduces the num- ber of experienced eyes that are available to tease out the underlying issues suggested by such field observa- tions. And it's probable that plant personnel all have more responsibilities in these times, which render such observations less frequent. I hope for a safe recovery to those medically impacted by the virus above all and for a judicious resumption to normalcy. However, it's possible that our experience with the virus will have lasting effects on the workplace, including more remote working. In re-creating the future work environment, let's also strive to adequately recognize and place due impor- tance on the value of in-person work tasks that are difficult to digitize. Thanks, and stay safe! Schuyler K. Marsh, consulting engineer, drying and pressure filtration, DuPont, schuyler.k.marsh@dupont.com Working remotely has limitations