A while later the CEO decided to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place, there were fewer customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s money well spent!” he said, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
But three weeks later, his Chief Engineer for product quality mentioned that the number of defects picked up by the scales had fallen to zero. He said that the scales should have been picking up at least a dozen a day, so the CEO asked the Chief Engineer to check whether there was something wrong with the report. The Chief Engineer filed a bug against it; and after some investigation, the engineers in his department came back, confirming the report was correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects; all boxes that got to that point on the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO traveled to the factory. The General Manager lead him to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. But a few feet before the scales, someone had placed a $20 desk fan on a table and pointed it at the conveyor belt. As they watched an empty box came down the line and the fan blew it off the belt and into a bin.
“Oh that,” replied one of the workers when queried. “One of the guys put it there because he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang.
