Spotted at the KME plant . . .

[Roto-Ray]

And, the question concerning the problem (and it's a real one) of " . . . how does a customer who might only purchase a vehicle once every two decades have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to ensure that the vehicle was constructed to meet the specs? Or, more importantly, that the specifications given to him by the sales rep were adequate to meet the demands that the customer will put upon the vehicle?" Is answerable by one word: Consultant. 

 

Chief, you're exactly right about this.  I was just discussing this with a mutual friend of ours yesterday while we were out getting some photos.  Unfortunately, even with one of the best consultants in the business, there are still some departments that are convinced they know how to do it better than the industry experts.

 

I'm sure we could all share stories, and here's one of mine:  a fire department needs to buy some new pumpers, and they send out a 100% Brand P spec.  They get five responses back, and a regional manufacturer is WELL below Brand P's price for their own product, so they elect to go with  the low bidder even though they're non-compliant.  As you would expect, Brand P protests, and they're successful.  After this debacle, they reach out to a consultant to help them create less proprietary specifications.  The chief says he'll send the consultant sections of the spec that he's not that familiar with (pump module, body construction, electrical wiring, etc).  The consultant quickly sees that the chief is using a manufacturer's specification again, this time from Brand S.  The consultant offers A LOT of suggestions to make the specifications less proprietary, but most suggestions go ignored.  When the spec his the streets, they're still 100% proprietary towards brand S.  In a strange turn of events, the dealer they got the specs from lost the dealership for brand S, so they ended up purchasing a higher-priced vehicle from a Brand S competitor that wasn't as compliant with the specs.

 

What a tangled web we weave...