August 2015

08/20/2015

Obsolescence Not Scary Enough?

Obsolescence not scary enough? If you ever wanted to envision a collective shoulder shrug, there may be no better way than to read this: Many of today’s manufacturing plant process automation systems could suddenly fail with costly consequences. Across the industry, companies are familiar with the threat of obsolescence. Few are prepared for it. While sound reasons for this exist, such as budget, one rather fuzzy and unspoken one may be at work. Could it be the threat obsolescence just isn’t scary enough? After all, the way you feel about something can profoundly influence your perception of risk. If you don’t really perceive that obsolescence will cause imminent harm, a shoulder shrug may be all you can muster. When people calculate risk, they rely more on feeling than fact (Source: Peters, Burraston, and Mertz; OSU). It’s hard to take action and prepare for a risk if we don’t feel it’s […]