Archive
Lessons Learned
Don’t confront me with my failures. I have not forgotten them… From These Days by Jackson Browne Designers lie awake at night remembering their mistakes — at least the good
Innovation in Mature Products
Many people look back fondly on the days of the annual model change in the automobile market. Car dealerships would cover their display windows and cars would be transported in
Convergence in Design
One of the old car magazines I subscribe to has had an ongoing discussion on left-hand- threaded wheel studs. At one time the engineering community was divided on whether the
Fundamentals of Maintenance
Modern cars and trucks are wonderfully reliable and durable. As much as I love old cars I cannot cleanse my memory of the heartbreaking behavior they inflicted on the motoring
EASTEC 2017: A Regional Show with Universal Appeal
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to attend EASTEC 2017, but you can in fact listen to one (keynote speaker Jordan Evans) talk about going to Mars. With
Why Things Break
I used to tease our maintenance staff that there were only two reasons a machine went down: it went down because we worked on it or because we did not
Good Product Specifications are Critical to Good Design
History is full of great ideas that did not succeed — frequently because they did not meet the “needs” of the marketplace. One of the first things I learned as
What Makes a Good Design?
In my last post I insisted that good design wins in the marketplace. As a student of automotive history, I am compelled to admit that some very great designs were
