Engineeringtalk | The news site for product design and automation engineers

...from 11 articles and news releases just added to the site:

EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland University deploys Dassault technology

The University of Sunderland has deployed Dassault Systemes technology from Applied PLM Solutions in its bid to succeed in the Formula Student racecar challenge.

Exclusive article from Applied PLM Solutions

Lenze offers inverter with integrated positioner

Lenze has released an inverter that has an integrated positioner as standard - the 8400 HighLine frequency inverter, part of the Lenze L-force portfolio.

Product/Service News from Lenze (14 October 2008)

Kontron finalises acquisition of server operation

Kontron has finalised its announced acquisition of Intel's Communication Rackmount Server Operation.

Company news from Kontron America (14 October 2008)

Lenze has the drive for longer life

How can drive products such as motors, brakes, gearboxes and frequency inverters achieve longer life under conditions of increased usage? Lenze has itself to these issues.

Background article from Lenze

Thule selects Moog for vibration resistance tests

When a supplier of car rack systems decided to invest in a test facility, it chose Moog FCS to develop a test rig to simulate the conditions its products are likely to face on the road.

User application article from Moog FCS (14 October 2008)

All 11 technical articles, news releases, and user applications today...

From the Engineeringtalk Editorial Newsletter this week

Read our new 2008 Media Pack

Dave Wilson, Editor writes:

When the Managing Director of the Well Engineered Parts Company decided to automate the invoice, billing and inventory procedures for his company, he knew that it would save his staff a lot of time and the company a lot of money.

But rather than purchase an off-the-shelf software package for the task, the Managing Director decided to hire a third year software engineering student to write the software from the ground up.

All one summer the intern toiled away, and, at the end of his secondment, it appeared to all and sundry that he had written a masterpiece.

Indeed, the student's software solved so many of the company's invoicing problems that the overjoyed Managing Director rewarded him with a lunch at the local Weatherspoons, where, as I recall, they laughed and joked for several hours over one or more glasses of super-chilled lager.

Months went by and the software still appeared to be working faultlessly. Indeed, it proved to be an invaluable tool, and was used on a regular basis to manage the stock and invoice the company's hundreds of customers.

Indeed, no-one would ever have guessed that anything was awry unless the Managing Director hadn't decided to put in a token appearance at a large UK trade show the following April. For it was on the floor of the show that he found out the truth about his software.

All thanks to one of his customers who had stopped by the company's stand to congratulate him personally for the excellent service he had received. His confidence bolstered by the accolade, the Managing Director decided to enquire if the customer might suggest any ways in which the company might improve its service to him in the future.

There was only one minor detail that the customer in question could fault the company on. Since the previous summer, he had been sent computerised invoices on a monthly basis - even if he had not ordered any products!

The invoices stated that he had ordered no Well Engineered Parts, and informed him that no payment was therefore required. It was a small thing, he said, but it could possibly save time, effort, and the cost of a stamp, if the software could be tweaked so that it avoided pumping out pointless paperwork.

The Managing Director of the Well Engineered Parts Company took note. That summer, the intern was called back with a new brief - to tweak the software so that it wasn't quite so much of an annoyance.

With the job done in less than a day, there was yet more super-chilled lager downed at the local. And, I'm pleased to say, the student in question has now gone on to greater things in the City. Apparently, a lot of banks are currently having the same sort of problems with their billing and inventory software, and the student is making a considerable amount of money fixing it for them.

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