Of course it’s a parable. That doesn’t make it any less pithy. See also: The Russians Used a Pencil
IIRC, the Russians actually used ordinary ballpoint pens.
A Short Story for Engineers
111–120 of 128 posts
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
In this age of the internet, memes get translated pretty quickly. I'm curious whether you found some definitive source that tracked this meme to its origin in a Chinese story.
> a story that's been circulating for years in Chinese I don't think I claimed that.
You literally wrote: "the story is almost a word for word translation of a story that's been circulating for years in Chinese".
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#113After reading the problem definition, my reaction was: you'd either weigh it and use a solenoid to kick it into a defect box, or you'd use air to knock the empty boxes from the line. I've seen both methods in use on production lines; so I assume that this story is something made up by someone trying to sell some kind of consultancy service?
It's not just made up, the story is almost a word for word translation of a story that's been circulating for years in Chinese. Of course people have called bullshit on it before. If you can read Chinese, you can check the thorough debunking of this myth right here, from someone that actually works in a soap factory: https://www.zhihu.com/question/27132006 And that was from 2014.
I remember my college professor telling me this story in college. I have a feeling he'd been telling the same story for decades.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a story that's been circulating for years in Chinese I don't think I claimed that.
You literally wrote: "the story is almost a word for word translation of a story that's been circulating for years in Chinese".
Is it not?
There's a story that has been circulating for years in Chinese. CHECK.
This story is almost a word for word translation of that. CHECK.
What is wrong with that statement? At the same time, A story that has been circulating for years in Chinese would also almost be a word for word translation of this story.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#115Sorry but this was stupid to me. Most of the weighing systems out there are going to use the bell alarm to actuate a pneumatic arm to push the offending box off the line to a reject pile.
What you actually will find is they will have an over and under bin so you can find out if you are over or under filling. It is a requirement by law that they weigh the product on a "legal for trade" scale if they are claiming it contains a certain amount. The company would already have the weighing equipment in place, maybe farther up the line where the tubes are filled. They would simply have to move them down to the end of the line and change the weight range to add in the weight of a box and any other things added to the box and toothpaste tube.
I get that it is a thought exercise but wanted to add my 2 cents.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#116[deleted]
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#117"The worker who'd placed the unapproved fan on the production floor was finally identified. They were counselled and sent to three days of mandatory retraining to ensure they understood that no further incidents of changing procedures outside of the formal change-approval process would be tolerated, and the installation of unapproved equipment was grounds for dismissal. The note on their file blocked any promotion, b…
Realistic.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#118Due to the way the production line was set up, sometimes empty boxes were shipped without the tube inside.
Fix the root cause of the issue and you won’t need duck tape and bailing wire everywhere to fix all the proximate problems. Lord knows what the rest of this nightmare environment of “fixes” looks like.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#119Reminds me of Daryll from the office. Blue collar innovation. There's talent at every level in corporate hierarchy. What it needs is flattening the hierarchy.
Re: A Short Story for Engineers
#120I misread the problem definition, assuming the problem was that the boxes were partially filled (e.g. 29/30 items shipped). How would you solve that in another way than a scale?