Walking into Atmore City Hall’s auditorium, I had an inkling of what I was getting myself into.

Last Wednesday, I sat through an interesting presentation by Ian N.E. McKinnon, the chief development officer for Reliable Solutions: Profitable Results.

McKinnon talked to a crowd full of representatives from different local companies, the legislature and other facets about the importance of trade skills, adding that 3.4 million jobs need to be filled by 2020.

What got me really interested in McKinnon’s presentation were all of the different machines and tools he brought with him.

From ratchets to metal turning wheels, he had it with him; even a tool that measures the spinning rate of a wheel.

Through his various illustrations using the different machines, McKinnon made four big points that I took away as being the most important.

The points, or questions, were machine reliability, product quality, maintenance costs and energy use.

While turning one a spinning wheel — I keep calling them spinning wheels because I honestly don’t know what they were — he asked the crowd to watch a monitor that tells the energy output of the machine.

As he turned a bolt about 45 degrees, the tall notch in the read out began to fall back to its normal level, or baseline.

That’s where a lot of the machines need to be, he added, saying that it will help to maximize productivity and output.

To say that I left the presentation having not learned anything would be an understatement.

I learned quite a bit from McKinnon, a Canada native who has lived in the south for a number of years.

The presentation helped me look at some areas where I need to increase productivity in my job and personal life to help maximize on my potential.