Case: The Deadline

The Deadline

I
Ruskin Manufacturing has guaranteed Parker Products that it will deliver the complete order of small machines by the 10th of the month, a Friday. Parker had already extended its deadline once. This time, it insists, the date must be met. Tim Vinson, head of quality control, had been confident the deadline would be met. But on the 8th he learns that a new component of the machines is in short supply. He thinks of several options:

Approve breaking up and regrinding the remaining supply of the old component that was being replaced. This could probably be accomplished in time, but the speed at which it would have to be done raises concerns about impurities in the process.
Approve using the old component in place of the new one. The product would still function well, and it would be unlikely that Parker would ever detect the difference. Although Parker would not be getting exactly what it ordered, the product would meet minimal safety and durability standards.
Discuss the problem with the design engineer and see what he suggests.

Which of these options would you recommend? Can you think of any other options that might be preferable?

II
Tim decides to consult with Chuck Davidson, the chief design engineer for this product. Chuck says, "I don't have a good answer for you. There's no time to come up with a completely satisfactory alternative. You could regrind, but given the time frame you might get a lot of impurities. Or you could just use the old components. But I'm not going to advise either of those. I don't want this hanging over my head. Maybe you should call Arnold."

Arnold Peterson is Vice President of Product Engineering. Years ago, like Tim Vinson, Arnold served as head of quality control. Tim is somewhat uneasy about calling Arnold for two reasons. First, Tim feels responsible for not seeing the problem earlier, and he is reluctant to admit failure to the Vice President of Product Engineering. Second, he wonders if Arnold would really want to be bothered by something like this. He might simply tell Tim that the problem is his to solve -- somehow. Still, Tim is not comfortable with the idea of just resolving the problem by himself.

What should Tim do next?

*From NSF Engineering Ethics Case Report.

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