Positively Riveting: The Problem Isn’t Where You Think It Is
The Problem Isn’t Where You Think It Is
Michelle, Positively Riveting
By the time I get called in, it’s already a problem—and not a small one. Something isn’t working, the line is under pressure, and people are frustrated. Whatever was supposed to be “simple” clearly isn’t anymore.
I don’t usually walk into calm situations. I walk into tension.
Sometimes it’s an automated cell that isn’t performing the way it should. Sometimes it’s a
manual process that was dropped in to keep production moving. Sometimes it’s a tool that’s already been replaced—more than once. But no matter the situation, the conversation usually starts the same way: “This tool is a problem.”
And I understand why that’s where people go. The tool is visible. It’s tangible. You can swap it out. You can call someone about it. It feels controllable. So that’s where most people start.
And here’s what I’ve seen over and over again: starting there almost never solves the problem.
Because blind riveting doesn’t work the way most people think it does. There’s an assumption that the tool is the smartest part of the process—that if something goes wrong, it must be the thing applying the force. But the reality is much simpler:
The tool pulls. The rivet decides.
The rivet determines when it breaks, how it behaves, and whether the set is consistent. The
tool just delivers force. When that relationship gets flipped—when the tool is trusted and the rivet is treated as untouchable—you end up chasing the same issue in different forms. New tool, same problem. Different supplier, same outcome. More time, more frustration.
I didn’t start Positively Riveting to sell tools or fasteners—I don’t sell either. I started it because I kept seeing the same pattern: teams working hard, adjusting, and compensating just to keep things moving, while the actual problem stayed exactly where it started. And most of the time, it wasn’t where anyone was looking.
I’ve been in plants where the pressure is high enough that no one has time to step back and question the process. Operators are doing whatever they can to get through the next cycle, and maintenance is expected to keep something running that was never fully understood to begin with.
In those situations, I don’t start with a long list of questions. I start by watching.
And that takes patience. Because the moment you walk up, people change. They stand a little straighter, follow the process more closely, and try to show you what they think you’re there to see. So, you wait. You let the process settle back into what it actually is.
Because sometimes the problem isn’t constant. Sometimes it’s one rivet in two hundred.
Sometimes it only shows up at a certain time of day—and then disappears again. If you rush past that, you miss it.
What you’re looking for isn’t the version that shows up when someone’s being observed. It’s the one that shows up when they’re just trying to get through the next cycle. That’s where the real process is—how the rivet is introduced, how the tool is used, and what actually happens under real conditions, not ideal ones.
Once you see what’s really happening, the problem usually isn’t as complicated as it felt—but it is different than what people expected.
That’s where the shift happens.
Not when something gets replaced. When something gets understood.
I’ve seen what that moment looks like. The tension drops. People stop talking over each other. The blame starts to fade because the process finally makes sense. And once that happens, it doesn’t just fix one issue—it changes how the next one gets approached.
That’s why I do this.
Not to take over or point fingers—but to help people see what’s actually happening so they don’t have to keep solving the same problem over and over again.
Because until the system is understood, the problem doesn’t go away.
It just shows up differently.
And most of the time…
the problem isn’t where you think it is.
-MD
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