• TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Inspection
    • Heat Treating
    • Lubrication
    • Materials
    • The Gear Industry
    • Gears by Type
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Subscribe
  • VIDEO
    • Gear Technology TV
      • Ask the Expert Live
      • Revolutions
    • Industry Videos
  • BLOGS
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • ADVERTISING
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
    • Print Advertising
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • Print: Specifications
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
    • Online Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-mail Advertising
      • E-mail: E-Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: AGMA Industry News
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
  • CONTACT US
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Blogs » Gear Talk With Chuck » Handling Changes

Gear Talk With Chuck
Gear Talk With Chuck RSS FeedRSS

Manufacturing / Lubrication / Cutting Tools / Processes / Hobs / Dry Hobbing / Hobbing / Coatings
Charles schultz
Chuck Schultz is a licensed engineer, Gear Technology Technical Editor, and Chief Engineer for Beyta Gear Service. He has written the "Gear Talk with Chuck" blog for Gear Technology since 2014.

Handling Changes

December 11, 2018
Charles D. Schultz
No Comments
Gears Engineering 1 of 9
It is the solemn duty of those of us in the curmudgeon class to lament the disappearance of things. Some of you whippersnappers might crack wise that this is because we cannot remember where we put them and you are not as wrong as you usually are. Some of us, however, retain enough perspective to admit that many of the changes we see are long overdue. When I first entered the gear industry, it took a staff of forty people up to five years to design and test a new product line. Today you could complete that assignment with a tenth of the staff and a fifth of the time. And there would be wonderful 3-D renderings to put in the advertisement. The only women in that group of forty were in secretarial assignments. Many of them were just as bright as the junior male participants but societal norms prevented them from getting the training needed to move beyond typing and filing. And we had lots of reports to write and files to keep organized. So many trees were sacrificed to make dozens of copies of those reports and the documentation behind them. Not to mention the pallets of computer entry cards that had to be shuffled to produce the numbers behind the designs. I miss the people and the interaction of those days but not the busy work. We got early desktop computers that read their programs via a strip of magnetic material. It was a big step forward when they introduced a twelve inch strip to supersede the former eight inch limit. We were in awe when the upgrade allowed the use of lower case letters! Today’s development engineers get to skip the boring stuff and concentrate on improving the design. The marketplace rewards excellence and excellence depends on exploring the limits of the gear art. Just don’t lose track of the fundamentals of good product design in the process.

Recent Comments

Thank you for this - Happy Saint Patrick's...

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • Kluber1
    Remote Monitoring of Girth Gear Performance
January 18, 2023
RECOMMENDED
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • State of the Powder Metal Industry

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg
  • The Afterglow of Furnaces North America 2022

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • AGMA
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2023 Gear Technology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact