Torsion Transfer Coupling

By Author: Anthony W Bills
Total Articles: 158
Comment this article

Torsion Transfer Coupling
Introduction
Engineers are governed by codes of ethics which promotes commitment and ethical practice for the common good of the body of engineers and to ensure professionalism. These ethics are comprised of moral values and rules of business etiquette dictating how engineers should relate to their peers in the practice of their business. It is a code of gentlemanly behaviour and not a code of ethics to protect public interests. The code of ethics emphasizes on the need for the engineer to be competent at his/her work, carry himself or herself in an ethical manner, be socially just, and work towards sustainable development (Beder, 1998).
In Australia, engineers are governed by the Institution of Engineers Code of Ethics. The Institution’s members are committed to respect the dignity of a peer engineer, to carry out any action on the basis of a well informed perspective and to put the community’s interests first. In the course of their business, engineers are meet many difficult situations. This usually arises as a result of conflict of interest and the fact that some of the ...
... tenets governing them are not in line with the interest of their employers who main interest is to maximise profit and minimise costs. This paper will look into such a case in detail in the following sections.
Overview
Trueblood is a small mechanical design and manufacturing company owned by a tradesman known as William Trueblood. After qualifying as a tradesman, William found an opportunity to establish a business based on designing and manufacture of complex parts for large earth moving machinery. Having been founded 35 years ago, the business currently employs 55 workers, among them three professional engineers Michael Petronis, Claude Weatherly, and Jason Border. Michael and Claude have 25 and 15 years of experience respectively while Jason is a qualified mechanical engineer who graduated from the Wilfred Snodgrass University two years ago. Claude takes care of the production division while Michael and Jason are in control of the design and analysis division.
Two months ago, a company known as Cranbrook Excavators contracted Trueblood to design and manufacture a torsion transfer coupling for a range of large excavators and drag lines. Cranbrook is a large company with internatuional sales of about $2 billion. This was a great pleasure for Trueblood as they have been pushing for this contract for more than two years. It is also expected that more contracts, even larger than this one will be signed between the two companies.
Michael and Jason undertook the work of designing the torsion transfer coupling. Analysing the design was difficult. Due to the time-frame of the contract, they adopted a design that they considered good and safe enough. The first batch of 150 pieces has been delivered and Cranbrook are happy with the way Trueblood has honoured the first stage of the contract. The second consignment is for 500 pieces to be supplied over the next eight months.
Contract price = $220
Cost of manufacture = $185
Pondering on how the analysis of the design could be improved, Jason provides an improved understanding of the stress distribution likely to occur in the design. On examining the new analysis, Jason becomes concerned that the existing design may create the possibility of fatigue failure in the longer term. Further analysis leads him to the conclusion that: the premature failure of the existing units is a distinct possibility, although
- Failure likely to occur after 15 000 hours.
- Original contract specification 20 000 hours
- New cost price of production $205
Michael is initially reluctant to take any action after Jason discuses his analysis with him as he thinks that this would reflect poorly on his leadership the design and analysis division. Finally a meeting is set between William Trueblood, Michael and Jason.
Jason presents his findings at the meeting and recommends that:
-The new design be adopted for production, and that
-The parts supplied in the first batch to be recalled back.
As expected, William Trueblood gets very angry with this. He asks if the parts that have already been supplied are in danger of imminent failure. Jason however concedes that they are not. William then declares that:
i. The parts already supplied will not be recalled.
ii. Production process will continue to manufacture the existing design.
iii. Production process will not manufacture the new design.
iv. The existing design is safe enough.
v. Cranbrook can’t afford to increase the cost of production.
William Trueblood also says that he is extremely disappointed with the performance of the design and analysis division and that the company may consider outsourcing its design work and close this division altogether. He further threatens Michael and Jason with sacking if another mistake is made in their division.
Problem Statement
-During the initial stages of the design, the analysis of the part was not exhaustively done because the time set in the contract had to be adhered to. Michael and Jason decided that instead of being behind the schedule, they had better hand in a design that they considered operational and safe enough. They however were not satisfied with the work.
-Jason later gets an insight of the design analysis and realizes that failure may occur in the first batch before the 20 000 hours specified in the contract. He then discusses the issue with his colleague Michael and finally they both meet with the proprietor of the company to discuss the issue. The proprietor gets mad at them after hearing their recommendations.
Management Issues in the Case
Work Scheduling
The scheduling of the work was poor. It appears that the design and analysis division had not been given enough time to carry out the necessary research on the design of the torsion coupling. It would be important to note that this was the first time that Trueblood entered into contract with Canbrook. This means that the company was to design and manufacture the parts for the first time. For this reason, the management should have given enough time allowance for careful and adequate analysis of the design. Cranbrook is a giant company and its orders are likely to continue. This may present a breakthrough for Trueblood which is a small company. With respect to the expectation of further contracts between the two companies, Trueblood should have done better planning as far as the design and analysis was concerned.
Conflict of Interest
Businessmen are almost always driven by profit. In this case, William sees is adamant that the company cannot afford to increase the cost of production of the torsion coupling. He sees recalling of the already supplied pieces as a big loss and will not allow that to happen. The engineers on the other hand are governed by their codes of ethics and will not be comfortable to allow more production of parts they believe might be a failure. They feel obliged to give their employer the truth of the situation, even if it makes them lose face. An engineer is a professional and his advice is derived from concise scientific principles and engineering practices (Beder, 1998).
Information Dissemination
On realizing that they had not come up with a satisfactory design, Michael, the head of the design and analysis division should have advised the management of Trueblood accordingly in order to hire consultants from outside the company. The Institute of Engineers, Australia Code of Ethics is based on the commitment to competence and excellence. The code also states that members are supposed to inform their clients and employers the possible results of their actions. In this case, Jason and Michael ought to have told Trueblood that although they considered the initial design of the torsion coupling to be safe enough, they were not confident enough especially as far as the time duration before the possibility of failure. This is because it had been specified in the contract and if the torsion coupling supplied failed to meet this criteria as Jason later came to suspect, the economic implications to the company would have been serious. Engineers are required to inform their employers of the economic consequences of their actions (The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2000).
Flexibility
Trueblood Ltd lacks in flexibility. The fact that an engineer in the company conducts further research on an ongoing production and comes up with a better design is met with rude objection. This in itself discourages innovation. The Code of Ethics states that engineers shall continue to be innovative in their place of work. The attitude of William Trueblood does not however offer a good atmosphere for this. He actually goes on to threaten the engineers with sacking. It should have been possible for the company to inform Cranbrook of their new design, even without recalling the initial supply. This could have acted as a cushion in case the original design failed before the number of hours specified in the contract.
Cost and Benefit Analysis
The cost changes which would result from the adoption of the new design:
Cost per unit of initial design 185
Cost per unit of new design 205
Price as per the contract 220
William Trueblood should have discussed with the design and analysis engineers to see if a design that would cost less than $205 but with a better likelihood of not failing would possibly be analyzed. In the scenario the parts already supplied fail before 20 000 hours, the whole deal would be cancelled. However, if the parts already supplied are recalled and the manufacture of the new design started, then Trueblood will complete the contract by manufacturing and supplying the remaining 500 torsion coupling to Cranbrook Excavators. This will also open the door for more contracts between the two companies which will be good for the financial health of the company.
Decision Making
In the beginning, Michael and Jason make a bad decision. They submitted a design that even they did not have sufficient faith in, but pretend that all is well. Later, when Jason comes up with a better design, he advises the company to recall the torsion coupling already supplied. This was a wrong decision because if the parts were recalled, they would have had the following effects:
1. It would have looked bad for the reputation of the company, probably discouraging Cranbrook to sign any more contracts with Trueblood.
2. The cost of the new design would have been higher by $20, bringing down the profit by the same amount.
3. All succeeding productions would be at the higher cost of production, bringing the total income from the venture far much below the forecasted value.
Authority
It appears that Trueblood is lead in a totalitarian way. William Trueblood is not an engineer; he is a tradesman by profession. He however overrules the engineers’ proposals without enough consultation.
Creativity and Innovation
The behaviour of William does not encourage creativity and innovation in Trueblood Enterprises. Engineers are however required by the Code of Ethics to continue being creative and innovative in their place of work.
Courses of Action for Jason
The situation that Jason, as an employee of Trueblood and as a qualified engineer, finds himself in is a difficult one. As an employee of Trueblood, he has a duty to obey his employer and to do everything that he is asked to do in the line of his work. But Jason is also a qualified engineer and is therefore bound by the code of ethics that govern engineers. He is bound to be professional and always advice his employer or client to the best of his professional ability to the best interest of the latter.
The first thing he is supposed to do is to refuse to be intimidated. He is a qualified engineer and a professional. He needs to explain to Mister William Trueblood the circumstances under which he came about the new design, and inform him about his duty as an engineer to advice his employer in what he professionally believes to be in the best interest of his employer. His advice is based on concrete scientific facts and therefore need not be challenged. If he fails to do this, then he will be flouting the principles and values of the institution which he is a member (The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2000).
After this, Jason should be very careful in the future when submitting his designs in order to avoid revisions. He should ask for sufficient time for analysis to ensure that the design that he finally submitted is the best and is not likely to be recalled for revision.
Conclusion
Engineers need to operate within the code of ethics of the profession in order to maintain the values of the profession and to work in the interest of the community. Financial motivation of business enterprises may not always augur well for the good conduct of the engineer, but the common good of the profession must always prevail.

References
Beder, Sharon, (1998), The New Engineer, McMillan Publishers, Australia PTY Ltd.
Martin, M. and Schinzinger, R., (2005). Ethics in Engineering. McGraw-Hill, New York.
The Institution of Engineers, Australia,(2000), URL: http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=F0647595-C7FE-7720-EA17-70AC27062E0B&siteName=ieaust. Retrieved: May 10, 2010.

Author's bio:

The author is associated with the www.urgentdissertations.com and he can help you with research papers,term papers,dissertations,thesis,course work