[Sigia-l] Screws

[Listera]

Eric Scheid:

>> M.a.n.u.f.a.c.t.u.r.i.n.g.

> so?

Short answer: Manufacturing.

> Before his innovations, his screws were manufactured in accordance with the
> various standards. After his innovations, his new screws were still
> manufactured in accordance with the various standards.

Wow. Have you even read the article?

For millennia the form factor of the screw hasn't changed substantially. A
slave to standards looks at that, shrugs his shoulders and continues to use
it without questioning the basic premises. Everybody else is using the same
screws, right? Safety in numbers, best practices, etc.

An innovator looks at the same set of facts and realizes that "the
standards" are suboptimal, as users are wasting a lot of money and effort to
compensate for the inadequacies of the screw as we know it, in terms of
compression, binding, assembly workflow, etc.

For decades the manufacturing process hasn't changed and to overcome the
stated shortcomings of the "standard" screw an entirely new method has to be
invented.

Somebody takes risks.

After the invention, a lot of the compensatory steps that used to be
necessary for proper binding are no longer needed. The (new) form changes
the function. Users are served better. Quality is improved. Savings ensue.

This doesn't happen because of blind adherence to standards/best practices,
but because someone studies the problem in context and deals with specifics
as opposed to common denominator generalities, however old and established
they may happen to be. It happens because someone is not satisfied that so
many others think the best that can be done is the standards/best practices
of the moment. It happens because someone actually thinks through the
process and questions all kinds of received wisdom. It happens because
someone isn't satisfied with what's expedient, but goes after what's optimal
for a given context.

> So what was your point?

See above.

Now you can question if his drawings were done with the standard tool:
Visio. :-)

---- 
Ziya

Best Practices,
For when you've run out of your own ideas and context.