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by burnt-resistor 336 days ago
The general principle would be making other parts with interference fit such that it or they visibly do not align without properly tightening/attaching parts below/about them. For example, the door plug should not sit in the correct position unless door plug bolts are all tightened and untightened door plug bolts shouldn't allow installing other parts like trim pieces to be flush.

Every critical step should be as "idiot-proof" as possible, until better idiots are created who hammer structural parts into position to meet management-mandated arbitrary deadlines.
2 comments
codedokode 336 days ago
I don't know if you were joking about the hammer or referring to a Russian assembly worker who used a hammer to install accelerometers in a rocket into a wrong position which caused it to attempt to fly downwards (no people were injured) [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-M#Notable_launch_failur...

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burnt-resistor 336 days ago
No, unfortunately, I'm not joking. The 737 NG and MAX fuselages were assembled inconsistently and badly for 20+ years. Bear straps and other critical parts were percussively persuaded into place.
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tialaramex 336 days ago
Note that you can solve that last problem but you need to think outside the box.

Hammering structural parts which don't want to go is hard work and if your workers have union protection you can bet they'll say "No". So what you need are strong union protections so that they feel able to say "No" when asked to do unreasonable things. Does that mean they're going to be a little harder to manage? Maybe, but mostly it means "Rule by fear" doesn't work and leadership might need to learn to inspire not threaten.

Union protections help in one place you're already familiar with. If your pilot says "No, I don't like those clouds at all" and won't fly, the airline can't fire them for that. That's their judgement, if you fire pilots who you feel aren't risking passengers necks to make the line go up you're not going to have any pilots at all.

Historically it helped for traffic control, but that's OK our old friend, Cowboy Actor and Friend of the Working Billionaire, Ronald Reagan smashed that, so now traffic control has the shocking poor working conditions Corporate America loves.

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