Hi Jack & Ralph,
Very good points but you have it easy in the petro chem field. try the mining or water and wastewater industries. There the cowboys would use knotted string, bluetak and velcro if they could get away with it.
On top of that every bright eyed and bushy tailed young engineer has a wonderful way of cutting corners and ending up costing a fortune. they will try and save $10 in the field and it ends up costing thousands in engineering and redrafting costs, let alone fixing the f... up later.
Keep up the "pressure" so that those with bright ideas just build whats in fornt of them in the design and not go looking for the cheap way out. If they have bright ideas tell them to get themselves downtown into the design office, onto standards committees and learn why they are not so bright.
As engineers we should be telling the "beanies" to shove off or do the design themselves when they demand cost cutting in materials. They are only bullies and all bullies are cowards. They will soon disappear if you leave it to them to fix for they have no idea.
Geoff
Jack Osborn <jhosborn@yahoo.com> wrote: Hi Ralph....
....just wanted to chime in (but not to complain.....smile). I think you've hit on something that many people have talked about, the complications of every day tasks, It seems that we have a difficult time managing the technology. With all the complexities of our so-called modern world (especially considering some of the things you've outlined below), it takes a tremendous amount of discretion and foresight to push back on what is complicated but really need not be. Having the technology is useful, but it allowing it spiral into a complex process when it fact it can be made simpler is something that needs to be monitored by everyone involved. ....Kind of like being able to see the forest, despite the trees.
I know I am always complaining (me?....just don't ask the other folks in the group) that even what people think are the simplest of tasks, can be mind boggling complicated. I know our project teams, which can be spread out through out the country, or the world, have trouble getting a set of documents for the project to print as a submittal to clients, this requires a Phd in plotting and CAD. I drives me nuts (I know...short drive.....). After a while, I start to see the real value in people who can strip out the nonsense and glean just the necessary. Whether it is running a plant, maintaining the piping and pumps of a process, or getting a set of documents and plans together, every step is chalk full of overly complicated tasks.
....just a simple minded person I guess....(one of my pet peeves....)
Jack
At 11:40 PM 9/5/2005, you wrote:
>increasing the production rate) or simplying reducing the incident rate.
>
>With all these ERP, CMMS, high cost engineering software, ISO certification,
>enviromental release, meeting project schedules, safety audits, keeping the
>expense down etc etc - what was once a simple engineering undertaking
>(like piping) has just gone way way very complicated. Is this true with
>others? Or its justme.
>
>
>----------
:-)
Jack Osborn, PE
Mechanical Engineer
MWH Global
925 274 2277
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Received on Tue Sep 06 22:49:00 2005
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