My opinion:
1. More copy and paste than real engineering.
2. Any rookie think he can buy, download, or inherit
spreadsheets can do the work.
3. More documentation and paperwork.
4. More meetings.
basically more wasted time.
- Christopher Wright <chrisw@skypoint.com> wrote:
>
> On Apr 1, 2005, at 7:46 PM, Paul Bowers wrote:
>
> > I
> > feel that "computerization" has actually
> *increased* the number of
> > people and cost needed to get the job done.
> I think you're right. It's obvious that project
> costs have gone up
> because facilities cost more than they used to,
> although I doubt anyone
> really knows why. I doubt that anyone high enough in
> corporate
> management to have access to the financial data has
> enough
> understanding of the engineering function to
> understand what the
> numbers are saying. So we'll never know
>
> My theory is that the increase in cost has come by
> replacing
> experienced designers with less experienced people
> who will work longer
> hours for less money. On the face of it that
> probably looks like a
> savings, but I suspect the cost of the supporting
> functions has gone up
> disproportionately. The longer hours are off-budget,
> but they do
> represent increased resources. And since the
> supporting functions only
> show up on project budgets as burden or overhead,
> it's hard to make the
> case, but you're looking at enormous increases due
> to networking
> equipment and support and MIS staffing. No one talks
> about the costs of
> re-work and project management resulting from poor
> design, especially
> if the design documents are delivered on schedule
> and on budget.
>
> I'm inclined to doubt that inexperience + fancy
> software results in the
> same quality of engineering that comes with
> experience + not so fancy
> software. Design is a process of communication, not
> simply drawing
> production. Properly used CAD tools and 3D modelers
> have enormous
> potential, but only if the designer is aware of the
> entire design
> process including fabrication and economic issues.
> On this list alone
> we get posts from people apparently doing design
> work who have very
> little understanding of material specification
> issues, including
> corrosion and fabrication problems. I found out the
> hard way that you
> can get into horrendous problems if you don't
> specify materials
> properly. Fabrication is another issue where
> experience only comes
> later in a career because it's not taught in school
> anymore. Students
> aren't taught about design codes either, certainly
> in the mechanical
> engineering curriculum.
>
> It isn't just the computer that has done this, it's
> the tendency toward
> technical illiteracy in management, and the
> substitution of financial
> credentials for engineering credentials. There's no
> question that
> engineering is being done, but you really have to
> ask yourself whether
> it's getting done in spite of corporate management
> and whether at some
> point when all the world is one single giant
> corporation will anyone
> actually know.
>
>
> Christopher Wright P.E. |"They couldn't hit an
> elephant at
> chrisw@skypoint.com | this distance" (last words
> of Gen.
> .......................................| John
> Sedgwick, Spotsylvania
> 1864)
> <a href="http://www.skypoint.com/~chrisw/">http://www.skypoint.com/~chrisw/</a>
>
>
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Received on Sun Apr 03 15:39:00 2005