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East Central Iowa | Over the past few years, I have had a couple different logins here on AgTalk and for the most part I have been a lurker, making comments only occasionally. While my family is in their 4th generation of farming, I'm actually not directly involved, but try and keep close to what is happening. I actually am, or will have been, one of the people you often hate. For the past 20 years, I have worked for an Ag Equipment Manufacturer having many rolls but the one I've had the longest was Engineer. Hopefully, I was the acception to those you hate. I see the same design issues to you see and can not understand why, apart from the fact I have seen so many new engineers who have never touched the type of equipment they will be designing. I myself grew up on a farm running the exact equipment I was designing for years. My best sources for advice came from service techs and customers, the ones who used or repaired what I was designing.
With all that being said, after 20 years, I'd finally had enough. With the recent changes in management and constant corporate procedural demands, that seemed to contradict themselves every other week, I decided to call it quits. (go figure, just when things started looking up with $15 Soybeans and $5 corn)
I hope there are others like me out there reading what you are saying and taking it to heart. You are who we are making equipment for, not the stockholders. Your success in the end results in our success.
Here are some things I hope other engineers need to realize.
1. The one size fits all rarely is the right size
2. The do everything widget never does everything
3. The multipurpose machine may be capable of doing many things, but it doesn't do any of them great.
4. Just because it works doesn't make it a great design if it can't be fixed.
5. 'It's the way we've always done it' is not an answer and should scare you.
Lastly, Thank you to everyone here on AgTalk and especially those raising the livestock and growing the crops that feed the world. It has been my pleasure to try and help you do your jobs.
4GF | |
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Good Bye AgTalk
