>I hate being someone who perpetuates the status quo. I've worked making gears, in a machine shop, a "job" shop. When you enter the world of production, you en

>I hate being someone who perpetuates the status quo. I've worked making gears, in a machine shop, a "job" shop. When you enter the world of production, you encounter a mix of machines from WW2 onward. These machines are those that have been making parts for longer than most people have been alive. They're not optimal, of course, but the cost of change is far, FAR larger than you can possibly imagine from the outside. If you have a machine that does a $5000 operation on a $100,000 part, and you do 50 of those parts per year. A single scrapped part can take out years of profit. That machine might do be used on 100 similar jobs of that nature over time. Thus replacing that machine, or "upgrading" its controls could upset all those apple-carts, over time. This is why manufacturing production environments are highly resistant to change. One of the hobbs we used to cut gears was made in 1909, and it was only 1/2 way worn down. Most of them were from the 1960s and onward. The computer, and the software that runs on it, is a tool. Thanks to logging, and the general ability to undo changes, the costs are far lower where software is concerned, but the same forces are at play. You have to adapt yourself to the found environment, and be careful when introducing changes, especially un-necessary changes.