The Southern View

Well, I just learned that no matter how bullet proof a system seems to be you cannot predict the trouble a user can cause.

One of the systems I designed for a client is used in manufacturing goods for the home retail sector.   The product has to pass certain tests to insure customer quality and safety.   Once the product has been made it is boxed and then assigned a serial number, the product then undergoes certain tests and once these tests are completed the product then travels down a conveyor belt to a human operator.

The human operator then does a 'eye over' on the product and then scans the serial number of the box to insure it has undergone all testing, if all goes well the product is packed in a shipping container.   Once the shipping container has 20 boxes a label is printed.

If the product has not gone through testing OR failed a test the system displays a message on the screen "DO NOT PACK PRODUCT [serial number]" and a warning sound is played...loudly.

The system even has a training video which explains that the system will not allow a product to be packed out if an error is found.

So for several years all has gone well when I suddenly get a panicked phone call from my customer.   The customer informs me that one of his managers told him that a new employee was able to pack a box that had not gone through all of the testing.   They had set the box aside in case I needed it.

I told my customer I would look into the matter and hung up and informed my boss what was going on.   I then contacted the manager who reported the issue.

The manager informed me that a newly hired operator told him she was able to pack a box even though it had not gone through all of the tests.  I informed the manager that this was unusual and I would look into the matter.

I retrieved the code for the system from my 'vault' and ran tests.  No matter what I did I could not fool the system into thinking a product was ok if it had not passed the the tests assigned to it.

I remoted into my customers site and checked their system, everything seemed ok.  I copied their data over and reran my tests with their data.   Everything seemed to be working.

The next day I had a conference call with my boss, the customer and the manager and reported my findings.   I asked the manager to rerun his tests, he informed me the employee would be in that evening and he would ask her to try and rerun the box through the system.

The next day I was informed that the employee was able to 'pack' the box out even though it had not gone through a test.   At this point I was getting alarmed and I asked the manager for the boxes serial number.   I went into his system remotely and checked his data, from my point of view there was no way she should have been able to do this.

So I decided to go on site.  I drove to my customers business in the afternoon and met with the manager, we put on the lab smocks and safety goggles require to enter the manufacturing area and went to the employees workstation.

I introduced myself and asked her to show me how the system was not working.

The employee replied with a chipper "SURE!", her boss then handed her the 'defective' box.   The employee scanned the box and the application immediately stated the box had not passed a test.   The employee then placed the box in the container and said triumphantly "See!  I was still able to put the box in the container!"

I managed to keep a straight face while her managers face turned a bright red and explained that all the application could do was to WARN her not to pack the box.  With a toss of her head she replied that the system should say that plainly.

I guess she was expecting an arm to come out of the PC and take the box from her...