On correcting but not conforming

We have to send the planning office a plan of all the medium we need in the new workshop. Where the gas, oxygen and water pipes have to end, where we want to put the phone and the computer etc.

They’re the ones who know how to plan, we’re the ones who know how to use it when it exists.

The current plan is on A4 paper. That’s not all that huge when it covers 4 rooms full of machines and furniture, all needing different permutations of water/dist.water/drain/gas/oxygen/hydrogen/air/electricity (230/380V)/telephone/internet….

I made a key, with one colour per medium, and marked each machine with the appropriate colour(s). The machibes are numbered so I wrote the machines’ numbers into the key and how many connections each machine needs. For example: oxygen: machine 1 – twice. machine 2 and 3 – once.

I also split the media into 4 groups  (gases, water, electricity, telephone) and marked a fresh plan for each group. Each with the relevant part of the key.

I handed the stack of paper to my colleague.

****

Apparently it’s too much like preschool and they’ll laugh at us in the planning office. There’s ‘nothing wrong’ with it, as such, and it’s ‘not a criticism’, as such, it just doesn’t conform, and is unusual and they’ll probably assume we aren’t the right people to tell them how we want the workshop…..

****

Ho hum. I suppose it’s revenge for correcting his spelling in the accompanying letter.

0 thoughts on “On correcting but not conforming

  1. From my perspective – having spent time tracing wiring on construction blueprints – if the people have one lick of sense in their heads would see your diagrams as important information. Don’t let the pip squeaks negativity get to you.

    1. πŸ™‚ Thank you πŸ™‚

      If you were a planning office, how would you most want a plan to look? Would you want the exact location of each media connection (far left corner), or just the machine that needs it?

      1. The problem with people that draw up plans for a processing area don’t actually WORK in that area. They consider the square footage of the area, the footage displaced by equipment, and where best to place the equipment. They don’t consider the minutia….electrical outlets for the machinery, where the operator will be standing, how much room a machine door takes up when it opens, obstructions that would hinder the operator and the machinery. In answer to your question…the plan would need to include ALL of the things you mentioned. Location of the media and the connections and the machines.
        Leslie

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.