Why Some Engineers Prefer Old Slippers

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I have a habit of waking up between 4:30 to 5:00 each morning to read when the house is quiet. Today I was enjoying an article about Flowmeter Selection in Richard W. Miller's, "Flow Measurement Engineering Handbook." He said “… orifices flowmeters continue to account for 80+ percent of installed process plant meters.” He continued on that newer flowmeter designs were starting to be considered but he was amazed at how slowly the newer technology was catching on.

As I was pondering that statement (I can easily ponder before sunrise), I looked down and saw my ratty old slippers. It then hit me like a ton of bricks. “Engineers continue to use what is comfortable, sometimes long after it is practical!” How else could I justify wearing 15 year old slippers when I had three new pair (still in their box complete with gift cards) that my kids had given me on previous birthdays? 

How many times to we do something because, “that’s the way we have always done it?” I know using new technology has its risks, but it also has its rewards.

Taking a Risk on New Technology

Now don’t get me wrong, I like new technology, especially if someone else is paying for it. I really enjoy seeing how other people implement a new technology, particularly the challenges they may encounter along the way and how they overcome them. So often we like to take the safe route because we are familiar with the existing method and don’t want to take unnecessary chances.

But what would happen if Kelly Johnson, head of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® (makers of the  U-2 and SR-71 spy planes), Admiral Rickover the father of the US Nuclear Navy, or the NASA engineers getting a man to the moon and back took the easy route. They all took ideas that were the stuff of science fiction just a few years before and converted it to bleeding edge technology, then to cutting edge technology, until it finally trickled down to products we use every day. These engineers had to overcome limitations by employing new methods and technology for their ideas to get off the ground.

I have the good fortune of having very talented engineers and programmers that work hard to provide easy to use and understand products for our customers rather than taking the comfortable, less challenging way out. For example in an earlier version of PIPE-FLO®, one of our customers told us they didn’t like the way our drawing tools worked. After further discussion we came to find out the problem was that, our drawing tools didn’t work like the CAD program he was used to using.

We could have taken the easy way out by saying PIPE-FLO is an analysis program not a drawing program and leave it at that. Instead, our team came to the realization that PIPE-FLO may be an analysis program, but our customers use our drawing tools to create their flow diagrams and they wanted the drawing features to operate more like their CAD program. In the next release, we overhauled the drawing tools to work like the drawing tools of the CAD programs. This involved a sizable bit of the programming to update the code behind the PIPE-FLO software but the customer had spoken. Problem solved.

A Challenge Extended

I would like to pose a challenge to all of you reading my blog. Take one of your particularly difficult problems (now I know the PC police say we’re to call them issues and not problems) and figure out how to solve it.  It can be something as simple as determining why a given pump’s mechanical seal continues to fail every six months, or find out the true operating cost of a differential pressure flowmeter and see what new technology is available. You identify the problem, arrive at a solution and sell your solution to your team. It won’t be easy, after all, you’ll have to convince others that your idea is better than the way it is currently done, but it will be enjoyable, and who knows maybe they will even use your idea.

Actual slippers -
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After my mornings ponder, I sat down at the computer and wrote out this blog article in a single sitting. I was so excited I went to my closet, picked out one of the slipper boxes and put on a brand new pair of slippers. Guess what, they felt great and looked much nicer. I then took the old slippers and put them away, after all, I couldn’t throw them out. Who knows when I may need a pair of comfortable slippers.

Now it’s time to hear from you. What do you think are the biggest concerns or obstacles to using new technology in plant maintenance and design? Do you think it’s the cost, or is there some other reason? Moreover, what problems have you overcome, and what new technology have you employed to solve that problem?

Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. Leave a comment below or email me. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.