03-29-2007, 03:52 PM
1) When NASA began the launch of astronauts into
space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at
zero gravity (Ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). In order to solve this problem, it took them
one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that
worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in
practically any surface including crystal and in a
temperature range from below freezing to over 300
degrees C. And what did Russians do?? The Russians
used a Pencil!!!
2) One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese
management was the case of the empty soap box, which
happened in one of apan's biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had
bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the
authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line,
which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to
the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box
went through the assembly line empty. Management asked
its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the
engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with
high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch
all the soap boxes that passed through the line to
make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked
hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee
amount to do so. But when a rank-and-file employee in
a small company was posed with the same problem, did
not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead
came out with another solution. He bought a strong
industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly
line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box
passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of
the line.
Moral of the story:
-------------------
Always look for
simple solutions."If you look at
what you do not have in life, you don't have
anything." "If you look at what you have in life, you
have everything."
space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at
zero gravity (Ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). In order to solve this problem, it took them
one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that
worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in
practically any surface including crystal and in a
temperature range from below freezing to over 300
degrees C. And what did Russians do?? The Russians
used a Pencil!!!
2) One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese
management was the case of the empty soap box, which
happened in one of apan's biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had
bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the
authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line,
which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to
the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box
went through the assembly line empty. Management asked
its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the
engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with
high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch
all the soap boxes that passed through the line to
make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked
hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee
amount to do so. But when a rank-and-file employee in
a small company was posed with the same problem, did
not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead
came out with another solution. He bought a strong
industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly
line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box
passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of
the line.
Moral of the story:
-------------------
Always look for
simple solutions."If you look at
what you do not have in life, you don't have
anything." "If you look at what you have in life, you
have everything."