Working for a Living
Street paving crew working in front of our house in Pittsburgh.
This section contains posts and articles about the challenges of working for a living, and the satisfaction of a job well done. The work ethic is essential for civilized human beings.
Startup
Recollections of a Field Engineer
During the late 60s and early 70s, Anheuser-Busch underwent a period of accelerated growth to become the world's largest brewing company. My father, Roger W. Collins, was hired by AB in 1966 as a designer in the Electrical Design Section of the company's Engineering Department, and participaged in the massive expansion work for the next decade. This is his memoir of that experience. (Full Article)
The Chocolate Covered Donuts
They forgot that chocolate is sticky
They tried to save labor costs and repurposed a packaging line intended for potato chips to package chocolate-covered donuts instead. It didn't work out. (Full Article)
Transporting Bakery Products
They forgot to include the cost of transportation
Business is all about saving money, but you have to remember ALL your costs when calculating the ROI. (Full Article)
Automating a Product Conveyor
Timing is everything
In all the planning for automating their product packaging conveyor, they overlooked an important detail: the rate at which the product came off the line would not accommodate the automation, and could not be altered. (Full Article)