Do You Measure Up? — Dickeson

The other URL was to a camera on the live operator of an envelope inserter. It was more often stopped than running. It was stopped while the operator rushed to fix jams, remove waste, solve problems and get the machine restarted.

Bucking the System

I got Buck’s point in a flash. There were no metrics—no opcodes (operation codes) for the inserter. It was without metrics of any sort—no measurement—no control! Shades of 1980—unbelievable today. The envelope inserter was without any operation codes and, therefore, totally without predictability. Yet there it was. I was seeing it live in February of 2006. Where’s my soapbox of 25 years ago? I’m ready to go again. We just don’t live that way any more. It was like seeing a Model T next to you at a stop light. You’re pleased that it’s still operating, but you certainly wouldn’t want to drive it any distance.