I have had this saying up over my office for over 30 years. It is a mindset. You set yourself to do the best engineering job that is possible given your talent, tools and the time allowed. We can discuss the time it takes to do your engineering job right, meaning right the first time, but management is always pushing engineering, that is a given. The cost to the company, and to you, can be very high when engineering has not had adequate time to investigate, and iterate through a series of ideas to solve the design challenges in the most correct, cost effective way.

I have had managers take exception to the above statement…as an affront to what they are charged in doing. That has never been my point. Given the challenge statement and the solutions offered, it takes time to get it right, so those engineers can move on to the next project. Everyone has probably heard “the devil is in the details”. And, he can make your life very difficult when those details are not attended to, or forgotten in the rush. Adequate planning, a defined project scope, and design engineering experience will address most issues, as the project design challenges are managed and executed in a timely, cost effective manner.

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