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They're not balancing lives against pennies. They're just not thinking about it. That's the mistake you're making: you're implying a plan because a plan means t

by XorNot 3y ago

They're not balancing lives against pennies. They're just not thinking about it. That's the mistake you're making: you're implying a plan because a plan means there's control. But that's not how it works: someone said "hey it would be cheaper if we could just not do this" - someone probably said "well this double check is necessary because bad things could happen". They were dismissed with the twofer of "that check never finds any faults" or my personal favorite "that won't happen" (no justification given). No one in Boeing has a spreadsheet of expected aircraft crash rates versus dollars earned on manufacturing and turned the dial till they got a nice peak. They just plain didn't think about the potential consequences.

orwin 3y ago
Exactly. They probably don't balance anything. Industrial tools manufacturers have the same issues. Sometimes it ends in breaking that hurt both people and the tool, but sometimes it's even more dumb: 'hey, this part is under a lot of friction, has to be replaced after each maintenance cycle, let's buy almost the same at half the cost, the maintenance will be 20% cheaper'. How it end up: the tool require faster maintenance cycle, and in the end, without taking into account maintenance technicians salaries, it ends up 30% more expensive (which isn't an issue for new tools, but quite a big one for tools under initial maintenance contracts)
FrustratedMonky 3y ago
Right, you are correct. Corporations have adapted and don't make such blatant calculations anymore. With seat belts, or gas tanks, in 70's. There were actual actuaries that did the exact calculations, what would manufacturing cost, what percentage of accidents would result in lawsuits, what are estimated payouts. And they actually did the math to balance cost to produce to lives. But they got into a lot of trouble that they were doing those calculations. Now it is more subtle, everyone has budgets to hit, there are deadlines, production quotas. And with Just In Time Manufacturing, and local 'ownership'. Some Blackbelt consultant convinces the local managers to 'optimize'. And of course, they start cutting corners. No real calculation, just constant pressure to cut.

by XorNot 3y ago

orwin 3y ago

Exactly. They probably don't balance anything. Industrial tools manufacturers have the same issues. Sometimes it ends in breaking that hurt both people and the tool, but sometimes it's even more dumb: 'hey, this part is under a lot of friction, has to be replaced after each maintenance cycle, let's buy almost the same at half the cost, the maintenance will be 20% cheaper'. How it end up: the tool require faster maintenance cycle, and in the end, without taking into account maintenance technicians salaries, it ends up 30% more expensive (which isn't an issue for new tools, but quite a big one for tools under initial maintenance contracts)

FrustratedMonky 3y ago

Right, you are correct. Corporations have adapted and don't make such blatant calculations anymore. With seat belts, or gas tanks, in 70's. There were actual actuaries that did the exact calculations, what would manufacturing cost, what percentage of accidents would result in lawsuits, what are estimated payouts. And they actually did the math to balance cost to produce to lives. But they got into a lot of trouble that they were doing those calculations. Now it is more subtle, everyone has budgets to hit, there are deadlines, production quotas. And with Just In Time Manufacturing, and local 'ownership'. Some Blackbelt consultant convinces the local managers to 'optimize'. And of course, they start cutting corners. No real calculation, just constant pressure to cut.