Positively Riveting: The Elephant Won't Move
The Problem Isn’t Where You’re Looking
Why the Elephant Still Won’t Move
Michelle, Positively Riveting
Two mechanics walk up to the same problem.
One goes straight to the leg.
The other looks at the trunk.
They’re both experienced. They both know what they’re doing.
And they’re both wrong.
Not because they don’t understand what they’re looking at—but because neither of them
bothered to walk around and look at the whole thing.
The elephant isn’t stuck because of the leg or the trunk.
It’s chained. On the other side.
And from where they’re standing, they can’t see it.
That’s what troubleshooting actually looks like in a plant.
A problem gets called out. The line’s down, pressure’s on, and people show up fast—but
they show up with what they know.
The tool guy checks the tool.
Maintenance adjusts what they can.
Engineering looks at the process.
Everyone is doing their job. No one’s wrong.
But they’re all standing on the same side of the elephant.
Perspective isn’t the problem. Staying there is.
You don’t look at everything—you look at what you understand.
Tool people know tools.
Fastener people know fasteners.
Operators know how to keep the line moving.
So you get answers that sound right… but only explain part of the system.
And when those answers don’t solve it, you don’t stop. You adjust something else. You
swap the tool. You turn up the air. You try again.
And the elephant still doesn’t move.
This is where it starts to get expensive.
In 24 years, I’ve never walked into a plant that only had one brand of rivet tool. It’s
always – at least three. Sometimes more.
And it’s not because anyone planned it that way.
It’s because when something doesn’t work, the first instinct is: it must be the tool.
So, you replace it.
Meanwhile, the rivet—costing a fraction of a penny—never gets questioned.
The way this usually plays out is pretty predictable.
Tool teams troubleshoot tools.
Fastener suppliers check specs—if they’re even brought in.
Maintenance keeps adjusting what they can to keep things moving.
But almost nobody steps back and looks at the entire system at once.
The rivets on the floor.
The mandrels being thrown away.
How the tool is actually being used.
The sequence, the setup, the conditions.
Not separately. Together.
That’s where the answer is.
The elephant isn’t broken.
The leg works. The trunk works. It can eat. Everything looks like it should function.
But it still won’t move.
Because the problem isn’t where you’re looking.
This is the gap.
And it’s the reason I started Positively Riveting.
Not to sell tools. Not to push fasteners. But to bridge that space in between—to help
people step back, look at the whole system, and actually see what’s happening.
Because most of the time, nobody’s wrong.
They’re just coming from different places in the system.
And if you’re the end user, that matters more than anything.
You can’t rely on perspective alone. You need understanding.
Because once you know what to look for, you stop guessing.
And things start moving again.
-MD
To view more blogs about Positively Riveting Click Here!
Click here for help resolving your riveting issues!