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'gallows engineering' expression?
bit:
'gallows engineering' is the nearest I can get to what I can't remember.
There is an expression which encapsulates the phenomenon whereby companies use cheaper engineering designs or procedures in critical applications...
...and they only improve or correct substandard designs after someone dies.
It's something more like 'gallows engineering' or something, but not that.
'coffin engineering' doesn't quite sound like it either.
'necrotic engineering'? Nope, that isn't it.
'necro-engineering'. Catchy, but still not right, or is it?
Does anyone know the expression I'm trying to hint at, please?
superboyac:
lol never heard of that.
MilesAhead:
I don't recall a technical term for it. But I knew an engineer expert in this field. He worked for Burnt Cadaver Consulting Incorporated. I believe they also had some banking interests at one time.
TaoPhoenix:
"Penny Wise Pound Foolish" is a term that's very close to this. In other words, per your example, they want to save 12 cents per unit on a run of 20 million units, but then because the part was made cheaply, a customer dies etc.
This kind of discussion floats around business classes all the time, though I don't recall hearing about a fancy term like your suggested "gallows engineering". From outside the company when they do that, such as a friend of the dead customer, the phrase "cheap ass bastards" also comes pretty close.
MilesAhead:
One of the best known examples was the Ford Pinto. The trunk had no "floor" because it just used the top of the gas tank as the bottom of the truck. Rear end collisions tended to rip the gas tank open, causing fatal fires. I don't know the savings per automobile accrued by skimping on the sheet metal. But I never owned one!
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