It’s amazing how, as I write articles, one by one, you can see the common threads of systems overlapping. (In English writing, we call that a theme.) Often in the beginning stages of researching and writing, I see each article as an independent topic, yet by the end of production when we are pulling together all of our articles into an issue, I realize that each article could seamlessly flow into the next.
Systems are in fact not independent of one another, but rather small parts of the greater whole equipment system. Each component either directly or indirectly affects the efficiency of the next. Thus, the importance of system optimization, not individual component optimization.
Starting with the September cover story "Reduce manufacturing costs during the design phase!" on page 12, by writing about software and 3D CAD technology, I saw the inception of an idea. The egg before the chicken. In one part of the article, SolidWorks’ Craig Therrien mentions the importance of user intuition while designing the software to encourage fast learning and ease of use, nearly the same message as in the article “The Psychology of the Human Interface” on page 36 about the importance of operator intuition for control design.
From there, you can transition (i.e. segue) to Sara Jensen’s article on seat design, "...And this seat is just right" where the importance of control design and placement in the cab can directly affect cab design and seat location.
One system feeding into the next. One article, a mere chapter of the whole magazine. English writing and engineering coming together in perfect harmony. It’s all connected.
