What are the things you see as opportunities in the world? Here are some short articles involving good Questions of Why and How from The Engineer’s perspective. Opportunity comes in the new, certainly, but also in evaluating the current, and re-thinking the old. What can we improve in the world to make it a better place? These are some of our thoughts.
April 2022. I have just re-done my annual coaching training for youth sports. One of the topics is “Bullying” and I have a question. Why do we work so hard to eliminate Bullying with youth, while allowing it — even making it policy to bully customers — in many businesses?
As a customer, how many times have you run into “Can’t”? As in “Sorry, we can’t do that.” It’s a disastrous business paradigm, it happens all the time, but it is really easy to fix, and it creates sales instead of shutting them down. It creates happy, loyal customers. Here’s the pep talk.
The concepts around Quality are central to a lot in engineering. We think about quality control in terms of delivering product that meets customer expectations. In some industries that’s considered in measurables
It seems like a lot of work and cost to build a prototype — and perhaps a big unnecessary step. Why not just do the design really well, then send it to production? Why make prototypes?
In how many ways can your company benefit from improvements by design? It’s not a rhetorical question. Engineering design precipitates so many areas, and a design touch may well increase your profitability. Maybe drastically! Now that’s business solutions. Often the word “Design” is interpreted as “Art” or “Style”. We certainly like to put Style with […]
You want High Performance! Absolutely. You want it Cheap! Of course. Only the best in Quality! We agree. Now let me show you this cool new material
How does your company protect against competitive threats? What is your long-game business strategy? How do you thwart market changes?
What is ‘Total Design’? I suppose many definitions exist, but we like to encapsulate the concept as the ‘Elegant Solution’. It involves more than just the look or the feel of a product. It includes
For some, there is anxiety in hiring a consulting engineer. Others thrive with Consultants. Still others, have been there, but the experience wasn’t good — too much money without the desired result. Is it the Consultant? Or the Client? Or . . . ??
There are times you need additional insight with a project or problem. If you have not sought out or worked with an Engineering Consultant before, the thought of finding the right one can be a little daunting. After all, you will rely deeply
My heart aches for those touched by the terror of shooting violence — in any of our yesterdays. I just can’t wrap my mind around WHY. Why do we, yes, You and I, accept and perhaps even encourage
We love the expansion of technology in rapid prototyping (like 3D Printing) with new materials almost daily. While technology is ever improving, the boundaries for choosing the best
If you read our other posts discussing SolidWorks or Creo, then you know we use, and value both. Of course, in the CAD industry there is a constant bit of bantering
What happened at your last design review? Think about it, was it valuable? Maybe more than you think . . .
Numbers are exact, and engineering is full of numbers. The world, on the other hand is imprecise and full of all sorts of anomalies. Where does that leave engineering?
It’s a dilemma: Should you get the widget made offshore? Or at Home? There are a lot of interrelated and complex parts to answering this question,
OK, be honest. It’s rude, but really . . . How many times have you asked this, or a similar question? Did you find a customer use case that the designers didn’t think about?
I visited a link on YouTube the other day, and on completion, it gave a “next up” that caught my attention. The title is “Torsion vs Leaf Spring Suspension …”. Since I engineer trailers with both
The USPTO (United States Patent Office) is full of patents for inventions that did not launch. At Synthesis we’ve seen some amazing ideas that have not materialized in the marketplace. Why?
Recycling is sometimes called a “Best Friend of the Planet”. Does that include recycling bike invention ideas too?
Which is better? (Pro/E) Creo vs SolidWorks? That debate has raged for years, and here is some more fuel to the fire.
Every book I’ve read about succeeding in business talks about the customer experience — from first inquiries, through the sales process and on to resolving issues.
I’ve heard it said there are more patents for bicycle related inventions than for any other industry. Is that true? If it is, then what drives bicycle industry innovation?
As part of an experimental project, we combined 3D CAD System files of Pro/Engineer with SolidWorks. The physical project is an experiment with concept applications in trailer design, and since
Many new inventors (and some small companies) have approached us with questions about trading Engineering Services for part ownership in their company. We believe that
So much is written about Creative People and even more about the Creative Process. Obviously in design engineering, Innovative Thinking (Creativity) is absolutely essential. So how do you become creative?
How many times have you thought . . . “I have just GOT to get my site to rank better on Google! But How?” There is so much conflicting info about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
“Oh Man! I got these babies down to 20 PSI — they’re gonna hookup today.” Then a few hours later “Hello, bike shop? Can you repair . . .
Your competitor just released a new product that has your customers talking. Yeah, it’s pretty cool, and also scary — particularly when they have a new patent. Now what can you do?
I’ve asked the question about SolidWorks many times, and the answers are polar. People love it, or they dislike it. There is not much gray area. Why?