Loose lips sink ships… and shops

Manager's Desk column for the October 2010 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

October 15, 2010By Keith Jennings

Shop managers never know what challenges they will face on a given day. One issue that’s reared its head with me this year is confidentiality. Even as customers have increasingly mandated strict confidentiality guidelines as a prerequisite to getting their business, we have received information throughout the year indicating certain visitors to our shop have repeated some of what they observed going on within our operation, or even talked about customer parts we may be producing.

There are no top-secret products produced in our shop, but there are many proprietary products being machined or fabricated that are critical to the livelihood of our customers. And they understandably expect and demand we maintain confidentiality.

If you’re running an ethical operation, you’d honor such requirements whether there was an agreement on file or not. With regular reports of critical information being stolen, it only makes sense that most companies want their designs, drawings, documents, policies and operational workings kept confidential.

To manufacture parts, our shop employees are exposed to proprietary information and must understand they can be held accountable for releasing it without permission. Even telling a neighbor or friend about a customer’s design may fall into that confidential category, and such information shouldn’t be shared. Many consider this information to be routine and unimportant, but releasing it could put a customer’s business in jeopardy.

Even though your shop may be producing routine parts, your own internal workings shouldn’t be divulged to outsiders, either. Of course, you wouldn’t communicate critical details to a competitor, but others–such as repair technicians, equipment salespeople, raw material salespeople and delivery service drivers—might.

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How do I know it happens? Because these same visitors come in our shop and tell us things about other companies, even though we don’t ask. Much of it is braggadocio on their part, impressing us with all their “inside” knowledge, assuming we’re chomping at the bit to hear it. A lot of what we hear is irrelevant, but the point is that ignoring confidentiality can expose valuable information about your company.

Another potential problem is when equipment salespeople visit your shop and get a tour. If names of customers are visible on scheduling boards, shop routers and drawings, you’ve just given the salesperson a host of potential new leads to sell your customers the same equipment you’re running. Be vigilant about keeping your shop information under wraps.

Many guests in your shop are shrewd and will observe your operation carefully in an attempt to gather pertinent information they can use to their benefit, usually without your knowledge. I’ve always operated an open and hospitable shop and considered a tour of our shop a selling point, but many people shouldn’t be given any information or see anything that isn’t absolutely necessary. What you do at your shop, how you do it, the equipment you choose, the layout of your facility, the suppliers you purchase from, the way things work—none of it is their business.

That’s not to say that communication among peers or sharing insights with a fellow shop owner or manager isn’t beneficial. It certainly can be. But I respect the privacy of conversation and the willingness of someone to share information. I won’t divulge any proprietary information discussed with me and would hope others respect me in the same manner. Unfortunately, many who come through our shops and businesses don’t operate with these ethics. So, the next time a visitor tours your shop, protect your information.