On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 22:22:24 -0400, enorbet wrote:

>Caveat Emptor never meant more 
>than it does now in this technological marketplace.

True.  And I'd like to point out that the proverbial $600
hammers/toilet seats have become urban legends.  But in fact
there is a true story which illustrates how the bureaucratic
processes can cause this kind of craziness.

There was once a CO of an E-2C squadron who insisted that
everything in his aircraft be absolutely perfect.  He once
noticed that the ash tray insert in one plane was missing and
ordered his people to get it replaced.  They went to the supply
system and found that the item was out of stock.  An order is an
order, so the bureaucracy was ordered to get one anyway.  But
the plane was no longer in production.  In order to produce one
ash tray insert, Grumman aircraft had to open the warehouse
where the jigs were stored, locate the die for the ash tray
insert, set up a special manufacturing fixture, make one,
restore the jig to the warehouse...you can see how much one
small piece of metal might legitimately cost.

I believe that there are now provisions in place to
automatically challenge an order if the cost is way out of line.
 (I know that was true in the defense industry in which I
worked.)  Then a decision is made to either do without, or at
least produce enough of the item to provide supply stocks at a
reasonable unit price.

Cheers/2, 
Jerry
--
Porcupines are peaceful creatures but God still saw fit to give them 
quills.



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