The forecast calls for 39°C (102°F) in Paris today.
And it’s still June.
In 2018, I was responsible for Amazon Prime Now refrigeration systems across Europe. Paris. Rome. Berlin. Munich. Barcelona. Madrid.
At the time, I kept hearing the same solution:
“We just need more inspections.”
“We need more preventive maintenance.”
“We need to pay closer attention.”
The problem was that attention wasn’t the issue.
The refrigeration units were designed for a maximum operating temperature of 35°C (95°F).
Climate conditions had changed. The equipment was being asked to operate outside its design parameters.
My argument, which I failed to convince enough people of at the time, was simple:
This wasn’t a maintenance problem.
It was a design problem.
No amount of inspections, checklists, or vigilance could reliably compensate for equipment operating beyond the conditions it was built for.
In August 2018, the heat arrived.
Multiple sites experienced major refrigeration failures, resulting in significant product loss and operational disruption.
I’ve carried that lesson with me ever since:
When a system is operating outside its design limits, asking people to work harder is not a strategy.
Sometimes the process isn’t broken.
Sometimes the assumptions the process was built on are no longer true.