Engineering in Short Line Companies

This paper discusses the work of the short line company engineer and explains the advantages and disadvantages he has compared with the full line company engineer. An analysis of the five requirements of a good design, justification of expense, machine function, machine reliability, cost, and appearance is made. The approach taken by the short line company engineer to meet these five requirements when faced with inadequate facilities and equipment, insufficient development time, and money, is covered.

It is shown that good sound designs can be developed which will perform well for the customer and reward the manufacturer with high profits if the engineer can use the right approach to the problems at hand.