Articles 

Proper Information, Please

2011-02-23

While working for another company, I returned to my office after being away for several days to find two pieces of a fractured bolt lying on my desk with a note attached: ‘What happened?’ I quickly responded: “It broke.” This was not exactly the response he was expecting, but he had given me absolutely no information about the circumstances surrounding the fastener; where it was used, how it was installed, etc. You may be able to diagnose a failure mechanism by looking at the fracture area, but without some background knowledge of the application, chances are it may happen again and this certainly will not please the customer.