Hold on, this is not a rant “70, 80, 90 hours per week” public debate. Anyway, I feel if someone has fire in his belly, that blaze will consume everything, and the clock doesn’t bother him.

But, this is something different.

Kolhapur is a growing hub for manufacturing. It is a nice, uncomplicated city. A few years ago, when we launched Leanworx, I visited a prospect who had 20 CNC machines at the time. The owner, a second-generation businessman, had multiple businesses, with auto components being just one of them. He was keen on tracking machine utilization to manage CapEx on new machines every year. In just four hours, the presentation was done, prices were discussed, and the decision to buy was made.

But there was a catch.

The plant head was reluctant to implement the system. He was in his late 30s, friendly, newly married, and a father to a 4-year-old son. He worked long hours, was knowledgeable, hardworking, and a capable manager. He liked our system over the others he had seen and fully acknowledged all the benefits Leanworx could bring to his operations and the company. However, he was disinterested in implementing the system and made it clear to his boss that it was a waste of money. The owner, trusting his plant head, reversed his decision, even though he wanted to proceed. I saw no point in pressing further; if the user resisted, the system would indeed be a wasted investment. I was puzzled at this situation.

Trying to probe further, I made small talk with the plant head about food in Kolhapur and the general quality of life there. He was a foodie and immediately started listing good places to eat and their specialties. He also suggested where I should have dinner that evening. He appreciated the quality of life in Kolhapur—less traffic, good shopping, restaurants, malls, and nice schools and colleges. He mentioned that his shift started at 8 AM, and with just a 15-minute commute, he could easily reach the plant. However, he only went back home at 9 PM, leaving him little time to enjoy what the city had to offer. When I asked why he worked so late, he explained that although his shift ended at 6 PM, he and his supervisors spent extra hours cross-checking production data to prepare reports for the 11 AM meeting the next day. Despite this, he considered himself a happy man. I thanked him for his time and left.
That night, I kept thinking—why was the plant head against implementing a machine monitoring system when he clearly saw its benefits? I realized I needed to figure out what was in it for him. #IsmeMeraKyaHai

The next day, I WhatsApped him: “What if you could go home early every day at 6:30 PM, and spend more time with your family?” He texted back in just 1 minute, “If Leanworx can help me do that, I’ll install the system today.” #QualityOfLife