How the mighty have fallen - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2022, 10:57:18 pm
content: Philips, who are pretty trustworthy for quality kit (and a price to match) are in a bit of a pickle:https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/09/faulty-philips-ventilators-uk-hospitals-patient-lives-riskNot just one problem either. This particular alert is due to the ventilators ability to fail and not sound an alarm, but previous issues have been with "the degradation of foam used in some ventilators and sleep apnoea machines, which could lead to users inhaling cancer-causing chemicals." They've had a previous recall for ventilators stopping working, which could be fixed, but apparently there is no fix for the latest problem.Beginning to look a bit like Boeing.

author: BrokenYugo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2022, 11:53:31 pm
content: I think the era of a giant corporation you could trust to some extent was more of a historical oddity than anything that had a chance of staying around.

author: ferdieCX
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2022, 12:03:10 am
content: Quality has a price.When the customer just look for the cheapest option and the companies get managed by bean counters, you have the perfect storm.

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2022, 01:04:31 pm
content: I don't see where this should be an indication of Phillips being any less trustworthy. Seriously, every single airliner delivered has greater technical issues than some degrading foams here and one expired adhesive there. And 389 out of how many units actually had an electrical failure?Sure they should try to improve their processes to prevent known issues from arising, but absolute perfection is an unreachable goal.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2022, 01:52:52 pm
content: Sure, everyone has one problem or another, but what stands out here is the 'oops, it's stopped' alarm not alarming, and the necessity to remove all the ventilators because they can't, or won't, be fixed. Those sound like pretty major cockups.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2022, 05:35:11 pm
content: Philips has lost its "reputable" image for a long time now IMHO.Sure, shit happens and perfection doesn't exist in this world, but by that measure, you'd find an excuse for absolutely any fuck-up, so I don't buy it. You can't expect zero problem, that is for sure. But should that be any excuse when problems happen? Nope.What those problems show (and same with the Boeing case, btw) was just unsufficient testing. Had the MCAS been properly tested including in corner cases that were certainly not even unexpected events, Boeing would never have let this happen.Foam degrading - that certainly can and should be tested in lab with accelerated testing.The consequence of electrical faults can also be tested, and the fact that the alarms would not work is even worse.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2022, 02:55:27 am
content: Most problems are caused by ‘distance’ between the design engineers and the assembly floor.Choice of materials, assembly techniques andlack of experience at various points in the chain.Management always tick the least cost alternative - whether it’s money, time or other inputs.