Staying Focused: Sustaining Reliability from Airport Security to Food Defense

On Christmas Day, a bomb‑laden terrorist slipped through airport screening undetected. The world held its breath until the device failed to detonate, sparing countless lives. That incident underscored a sobering truth: over the years since 9/11, our collective vigilance has waned.

As a consultant who works on maintenance systems and specializes in food defense—the science of protecting the food supply from intentional contamination—I’ve seen this trend up close. Food defense gained significant traction after 9/11, yet today it has lost much of its momentum in the United States. In contrast, governments, universities, and factories in Peru, Thailand, Panama, and the Caribbean still eagerly engage in workshops that I lead.

Why this disparity? Two main forces shape corporate America’s short‑term focus. First, the quarterly‑results paradigm trains executives to prioritize immediate returns over long‑term resilience. Second, the old manufacturing buzzword “flavor of the day” reflects a fleeting appetite for change that never becomes ingrained. In a tightening economy, companies prune even the core of their organizations, leaving staff stretched thin and programs underfunded.

We’ve witnessed a pattern: after each crisis—whether the 9/11 terror threat, the bird‑flu scare, the swine‑flu response, or the recent economic downturn—initiatives are launched but rarely completed. The result is a series of half‑finished or dormant programs, not a sustainable security or reliability culture.

This pattern echoes in industrial plant maintenance. Total productive maintenance and condition‑based maintenance initiatives from the 1980s were abandoned as the 1990s saw a surge in product diversification, the early 2000s introduced packaging transformations, the 2010s brought “green” mandates, and the last few years have been dominated by cost‑cutting. Consequently, many maintenance programs have stalled for two decades.

The aviation sector offers a counter‑example. Airlines, regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, have maintained robust, long‑term maintenance and reliability programs despite external pressures. Their success shows that sustained focus can coexist with rigorous safety standards.

We must learn from the aviation model and apply the same steadfast commitment to airport security, food defense, and industrial reliability. Guarding against terror, protecting the food supply, and ensuring equipment uptime are not drama‑driven tasks—they are foundational to our collective safety and economic stability. By staying focused and investing in long‑term programs, we can turn vigilance into a lasting advantage.