Originally Posted by handlewanker  Hi in2, It's a bit like the captain of a ship, he doesn't have to be able to stoke the boiler to get the ship away from the wharf and out to sea, but I'd like to see a stoker try it.
Most of the time engineers know of a machines characteristics and so plan accordingly, but it's when they try to push the limits that they fall down.
I don't think ANY qualified engineer, that is a person with a college degree in the field of mechanical engineering, as opposed to someone who has worked every machine invented, would want to get his/her hands grimed up by working at the bench with muscle power, instead of applying brain power to guide the work force in the right direction.
One engineer can be the guiding force for a whole factory of skilled workers, but without the guiding force the factory would soon lose direction and cease to exist.
Part of an engineer's training is work experience, but only to familiarise him/her with the tools of the trade.
The quote, "How can I fly like an eagle when I'm surrounded by turkeys", describes the very real dividing line between using your brains instead of your brawn to solve a problem.
Brawn, and lots of it, will get the job done, but brains will show you how.
Ian. |
Hi Ian
I would agree with you to a certain extent, but if you have a guiding force going down the wrong road you all will be in peril very soon. If you give that "captain" overwhelming control with little or no foresight and supervision he will run the ship aground if he does not know better where ground is, I would be content on saying that its the crew well trained and competent knowing there jobs, and the jobs of others if needed in a pinch that would save that ship~the helmsman knows were the ground despite poor orders~. Its the first officer who in many cases runs the ship on a level that makes it go and should be weighing all information available. Also on his ship the captain should be able to identify the boiler, where it is, and know what happens if it runs out of water.
I am no longer in a fully industrial field, when I was the industrial engineer that I worked with was well up to snuff, he worked with the maintenance staff(the guys that built it), the T&D room(the guys that tooled it), R&D(the guys that wanted it via design), and the operators(that ran it).
My current employer the engineers have little to do do with actual machine design, they only "improve" and "articulate". I think that you mistake what I stated, when I say "work with" my job is to make the wrench magic happen(I don't want, need, or care for there help), I mean they actually come out and look at the machine, they take the 10 minutes to talk to the operators, they "look" at something instead of pretending to understand a problem from several miles away in an office and try to work off drawings very often not even the correct or accurate ones~often from there own error in submission. I would much appreciate that someone who is designing something to hang onto/off my presses that they at least come and look at the machine in its current state then assume that all is the way it was when it was delivered a decade ago. The sad fact is my engineers buy the equipment, with input from the chain of command and no longer the worker ants who have to try and make it work. It seems lately esp that they buy A. the cheapest machine B. the machine that has the least history C. the machine that is the hardest to fix and least understood or proprietary D. A used piece of junk that should have been scrappeed. Of course my company has the habit of obtaining engineers who are freshly graduated~I don't knock this everyone has to start somewhere~ and have never had printing experience, again not always needed but you would think you can find at least one.
So far they the biggest fupar is that they ordered a 750,000 USD press with the wrong voltage hook up(Amongst other problems as being to large for the area it was placed), I rewired every motor, every transformer and replaced three very large and heavy power ballasts at the cost of thousands of dollars, not including my time and press downtime(well it never has run right as they ordered the first one, and it has not preformed as expected so they don't know the hourly rate on it) when had they actually asked someone, anyone of a half dozen people, what the plant voltage was there would have been no problem. I only missed one thing buried in the bowels and that was just a relay that ran off the mains. Oddly enough the engineer that was in charge of that press left two weeks before it was delivered, I also fault the company that we ordered it from as they never sent there field engineers until the press was completed and in route, and never arranged millwrights or even service personal to help install and rewire it~am I asking too much?.
I got the atlas clausing going without scraping(the owner was disapointed that I could not show him), at least yet, the gib was badly marred and slightly bent, a little draw filing and its all good, from .030 dish down to .002-3, I am happy with that the owner wants to build the wear backup with some moglice.
chris
PS The older I get the smarter my dad and grandfather get.