A customer requested that the cal due date be the last day of the month on the work order he signed and dated. Then he calls back a few weeks later pissed because we followed the request on his work order. WHAT A DUMB A$$. He didn't even know he requested it. Some people were just made to be Fry Cooks. :x
A common theme I've seen throughout my career- "Oh $hit!! You did it just like I told you to!!"
If you don't want me to do it that way, then don't tell me to do it that way...
I like priorities on overdue equipment :-o. Why the dickens didn't you bring it in when it was due? The answer invariably is "we were using it".
There's always some brightstar that thinks his mission is more important than having his equipment calibrated. Like the calibration won't affect the mission. :?
Give "brightstar" the Egress System analogy:
Some egress systems on fighter jets have pyrotechnics powered by a 10V battery; when the pilot needs to make his seat leave the aircraft in a big hurry, he hits the big red "EXIT STRAIGHT UP" button, 10V goes to the pyros, and BOOM! He floats gently to the earth while his plane nose-dives into the side of a mountain with appropriate visual and sound effects...
Now let's say that a "brightstar" aircraft mechanic is checking the pyro batteries with his overdue multimeter, which reads 10V. But, because it's overdue cal, it has drifted, and the 10V reading he got was really 9.5V. He salutes the pilot as he takes off, never to be seen again, because the eject system the pilot needed an hour later failed to deploy, 9.5V being insufficient to fire the egress pyros under his seat... So his plane nose-dives into the side of a mountain with appropriate visual and sound effects, pilot included...
Who's to blame? The idiot aircraft mechanic, for using test equipment that was past due calibration...
Does the calibration affect the mission? 99% of the time, probably not too much. But boy, that 1% can really suck...
Quote from: flew-da-coup on 03-28-2006 -- 12:31:34
A customer requested that the cal due date be the last day of the month on the work order he signed and dated. Then he calls back a few weeks later pissed because we followed the request on his work order. WHAT A DUMB A$$. He didn't even know he requested it. Some people were just made to be Fry Cooks. :x
Damn I just got the same e-mail sent to me from Atlanta........HMMMMM do we work for the same company or what?
I would have cleaned that baby up, put new batteries in it, calibrated it, and sent it back to them!
(Some of us on this site were made before 1969, and still work just fine. 'Course, my batteries don't leak, either, but the discussion of what leaks and what doesn't may not be appropriate for this website... :-)
I hate to tell you this, but the problem is rampant. I run a calibration and dimensional measurement lab, along with the prototype department. Within the last few weeks I've had requests for first piece inspection with a capability study of critical dimensions on a 8 cavity tool. There was almost 100 hours of measuremnts to be taken and of course they needed it by Friday because their customer was p#@@*!. When did I receive the request ? Wednesday afternoon and everything had to run on one machine.
We see the same thing in calibration. I need it calibrated right away, can I wait for you to get it done, and what do you mean it's a six hour procedure>
Just keep in mind Mel Brooks and "Blasing Saddles" " Remember these are simple people, in other words morons " or something like that.
You may have heard the story about the engineer that worked for this company for 30 years, and retired. He gets a frantic call one day- there's a huge piece of equipment in the plant, and it's not working. Can he come in and take a look?
He goes in, spends a few hours analyzing things, and takes a piece of chalk and puts a big white X on a piece of gear, and says "That's the problem. Fix that, and it'll run fine." The mechanics replace the unit with the "X" on it, and the equipment runs beautifully.
The retired engineer sends the company a bill for $50,000. Naturally, the accounting department wants an ITEMIZED bill for that amount of money. So the retired engineer re-submits the bill as follows:
1- Placing "X" on machine to facilitate repair- $1
2- Knowing where to place the "X"- $49,999
He was paid in full...
Oh quit your whining flew-da-coup. For someone who has some many nice perks, your lucky Flynn and I didn't send the Georgian hit squad down to Orlando. :lol:
BTW what's this rumor I hear about you wanting to come back here? Are you INSANE? :-o