WorldWide Drilling Resource®

This is How You Test Things by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC It was reported by United Press International that the Texas Rangers baseball team enlisted the help of about 300 local school kids to break in the new Globe Life Field with a “super flush” event - flushing all of the stadium's toilets at once. The objective was to make sure the plumbing system could take the real- world strain of having a large number of baseball fans using the restroom during breaks between innings. What a great idea! Please note: This is how you test things. You create a real-world scenario (or as close to it as possible) and perform a test run. If something can go wrong, it usually will go wrong during this event - and it’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to fix before releasing it to the public than having to do everything “after the fact”. While the company that did the test wasn’t named, the fact they took the time and effort to make this happen would suggest they are a professional, well-run organization. Much of what I do as a computer controls developer is to devise various tests that will reveal if product performance is “up to the task” under a wide variety of conditions. Even though product testing is a fairly simple operation, thorough testing takes time and requires diligence. Basically, you put the product in an environment that would stress the various components, then check it periodically to make sure it is working right. This should be done BEFORE the product is released for sale to the public, not after. The public should not be used as the “guinea pig”. To do this, one chooses a potential problem scenario that the control unit would possibly be subjected to. For example: If the control unit is going to be used in cold weather conditions, you could put it in the freezer for a while. A similar test could be used for hot weather conditions. Also, don’t forget other environmental conditions like vibration, humidity, dust, and corro- sive (like saltwater) environments. Do this for enough time so you are satisfied the product will be able to successfully handle everything that could possibly be “thrown at it”. The goal is to get it working the first time - every time. As with most everything, there are limits to testing as no one can prepare for extraordinary events. For example, we cannot test for lightning because it is so variable in terms of intensity, and is nearly impossible to duplicate. Sir Henry Royce, the “Royce” in the Rolls-Royce car brand, went by the motto: “Take the best that exists and make it bet- ter.” He was also a big believer in product testing and came up with a nasty durability test for cars. It consisted of two cam- like rollers in the floor of the shop. The rollers were connected to motors, and when the car was placed on them, the rollers started turning. Most expensive cars of that day were broken up in a few minutes, but a Rolls-Royce could take it for hours. That’s one of many reasons why Rolls-Royce has the reputation it has: because of diligent product testing. Diligent product testing comes with great rewards, but history is littered with products built by companies that didn’t practice product testing. There isn’t much that will do more damage to a company’s bottom line or stock price than having their products fail when competent product testing would have eliminated, or at least minimized, the chance of failure. Britt michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com WorldWide Drilling Resource ® 16 MAY 2020 Open the Doorway to all the Event Photos during Virginia Water Well Association 2020 To see more photos from this event, go to www.worldwidedrillingresource.com Feel free to download at will and print the photo(s) of your choice. Compliments of WorldWide Drilling Resource ® . Photos are copyrighted and released for personal use only - no commercial use permitted.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=