Do we rely on modern technology too much ?

[biggs682]

Simple question really ?

In my job we rely on a on line parts identification system , it crashes every so often and when it does its access is not available world wide so we are unable to id bits our customers need and there is no back up system to fall back on to and the paper manuals are not reliable enough when ordering £1500 + parts

 

[Illaveago]

Simple question really ?

In my job we rely on a on line parts identification system , it crashes every so often and when it does its access is not available world wide so we are unable to id bits our customers need and there is no back up system to fall back on to and the paper manuals are not reliable enough when ordering £1500 + parts

To answer your question I unfortunately have to rely on modern technology.

It used to be microfiche that people used years ago. I used to use them for doing paint mixes.

 

[User33236]

Simple question really ?

In my job we rely on a on line parts identification system , it crashes every so often and when it does its access is not available world wide so we are unable to id bits our customers need and there is no back up system to fall back on to and the paper manuals are not reliable enough when ordering £1500 + parts

The problem would not appear to be on the reliance of technology but in the poor quality of your paper manuals. The latter should be addressed internally by the appropriate individual.

 

[Illaveago]

I can remember a time when parts people used to refer to parts manuals to cross reference part numbers to see if there was an alternative part.

 

[SteveF]

That's quite interesting.

Imagine there wasn't the technology to support it, what process would be developed to compensate, back to the old ways or is there a different non computerised way.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I can remember a time when parts people used to refer to parts manuals to cross reference part numbers to see if there was an alternative part.

I remember the old school storekeepers, give them a description they'd tell you the part number, give them a part number they'd tell you what the product was no manuals involved. I worked in a metal store, if you gave me the part number I'd tell you the metal, give me a description I'd tell you the part number.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

That's quite interesting.

Imagine there wasn't the technology to support it, what process would be developed to compensate, back to the old ways or is there a different non computerised way.

We'd go back to the old system of card indexes and paper manuals.

 

[Drago]

The reliance on technology isn't the problem.

The reluctance to invest time, effort and money in a proper business continuity plan is the problem. When the system does fall over the bosses run round flapping like John Inman in a semaphore class because they were too lazy/ignorant to have a business continuity plan to roll smoothly into action and save the day. The dibble were no better in this regard.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

In the RN we learned stores were for storing things, not for giving them out.

 

[SteveF]

We'd go back to the old system of card indexes and paper manuals.

Shame, I was rather hoping for some sort of steampunk/Heath Robinson contraption belching out fire and fury in the order fulfilment section!

 

[Markymark]

The reliance on technology isn't the problem.

The reluctance to invest time, effort and money in a proper business continuity plan is the problem. When the system does fall over the bosses run round flapping like John Inman in a semaphore class because they were too lazy/ignorant to have a business continuity plan to roll smoothly into action and save the day. The dibble were no better in this regard.

IT has made redundancy and backup massively cheaper and easier to the point where most businesses do it.

A catastrophic event for a busines (fire, theft etc) can be restored in moments leaving nothing more than a minor interruption. I have known business fold after such events in the olden days when backup of paper, processes and infrastructure was the preserve of the larger organisations.

There is a rosy tinted view of offline businesses but many of the issues we face today (our website has been down for 2 hours!!!) is negligible to issues faced in the past(a fire has wiped out our last 3 years of accounts and all our invoices, we cannot survive this)

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Shame, I was rather hoping for some sort of steampunk/Heath Robinson contraption belching out fire and fury in the order fulfilment section!

Working in a factory stores before computers. They had the product in racking in alphabetic/numeric order, any excess was put in other storage areas and there were boxes on the ends of the racking with cards in them containing details of what had been put where. One of the jobs I detested was going through the boxes checking the cards were up to date and error free.

 

[biggs682]

To answer your question I unfortunately have to rely on modern technology.

It used to be microfiche that people used years ago. I used to use them for doing paint mixes.

We still have a microfiche for the old stuff and i do remember them with great joy

The problem would not appear to be on the reliance of technology but in the poor quality of your paper manuals. The latter should be addressed internally by the appropriate individual.

Agree but the amount of paper manuals we would need is massive as a lot of stuff is custom specced for each application

 

[screenman]

To answer your question I unfortunately have to rely on modern technology.

It used to be microfiche that people used years ago. I used to use them for doing paint mixes.

I too remember those.

 

[Profpointy]

In the RN we learned stores were for storing things, not for giving them out.

"You can't have it because there's only one left and someone might need it"