This is a good Sherlock Ohms story about using ingenuity to double the production on the conveyor. A lot of this type of optimization is done with intelligent tools these days. Not long ago, it all had to be done with brain tissue.
I guess IF you were standing next to this fellow during his investigation, you'd probably have a far better appreciation for the engineering/programming dilemma. But, reading about it from the vantage point of several decades later, it seems that one would do just as well reading Homer or Cicero in their native text.
In general, I think most of these blogs are so "lingo-specific" that they lose much of their impact to readers NOT familiar with industry-specific terminology.
I agree - Doubling production capability is a nice accomplishment (as long as everything else on the line can keep up!) and sounds like it was an interesting problem.
Good point on optimization, Rob - and depending on where you work and the company budget - brain tissue is still the only medium used...
Brain tissue is great, Nancy. But now we're seeing embedded intelligence in a wide variety of devices and systems in automation and control. The embedded intelligence allows controllers to run the system like a video game with simulation and optimization at the fingertips.
I would have assumed there would have been a command to tell the system "Do not send more boxes until these have come off the belt" or something like that. I would hate to think there were nuclear devices spread all over the floor because the output could not keep up with the production line!
Oh, I agree Rob - I was just referencing companies with older technology that do not have a budget for the cool new stuff. We can still design stuff that is not as smart but can still do the job. And we still need brain tissue to invent the smarter products ;)
The problem experienced at the discharge ends indicates that the next step was not done, which would be to speed the rest of the process. Sort of like adding a huge boost to the horsepower of a car but not doing anything about keeping the car under control or stopping it.
Perhaps I did not understand completely all about how the changes were able to bring about such an improvement in process speed.
We'll still need the brain tissue, Nancy, no matter how smart our tools get. Yet it is nice to see some of the intelligence getting embedded in our devices. I'm glad my computer has enough embedded intelligence that I don't have to use C prompts any longer. And the price on the intelligent systems usually comes down.
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