[xchaotic]

Even if this story was true, neither solution is good as they still have wasted, empty boxes. The solution would be to figure out how the empty ones are produced and fix that (root cause analysis) The scale would be part of the solution to verify the fix (continuous integration)

[akira2501]

> The solution would be to figure out how the empty ones are produced and fix that (root cause analysis)

Maybe.. maybe not. One possible outcome:

Likely problem: speed of production. Solution: slow down production. Analysis: the loss on sometimes empty boxes is much lower than the loss on a slower production line. Conclusion: the fan is the correct solution.

[zdkl]

That line of reasoning is what cost them 8M in the first place. If it looks stupid, but works, it ain't stupid.

[drcross]

I dislike this line because life is more nuanced than it portends.

[icelancer]

>>I dislike this line because life is more nuanced than it portends.

Most of the time, it isn't. That's the point.

[zdkl]

Exactly. Hacker news

[rando444]

The solution is good, but it's not perfect.. it's just a question of how much time and effort particular problems are worth.

In fact the whole lesson here is about exactly this.