As I'm sitting in a meeting about building a test rig which will be sent to Romania, I'm jotting down notes of what to order based on the said requirements of the machines necessary capabilities. The Romanian engineer on the phone conference says to make sure I order all Siemens components and nothing but Siemens. I said I have way more success with Allen-Bradley than Siemens and would prefer to use that instead. He says this machine will be in Europe and wants European parts on it. I said well it's being developed in America, by Americans who have to troubleshoot it, and I don't want Siemens junk on it that I'll have to fly over to Romania to repair/replace.

This is a US based company, with a facility in Romania.. I know we're supposed to be culturally sensitive... but I have a hard time feeling the need to cater to them.

On one hand, they will be the ones who have to use/work it on a daily basis and are more familiar with Siemens products...

But on the other hand, I have to fly over there if it fails.

I'll order Siemens per their request, but don't necessarily agree with having to.

Tough toenailskis comrade

Ive found all ya can really do in a case like this is tell em what you basically just said.....and if they still insist then heed to their wants.

Then when it breaks ya have a trip to Romania.....

tell them they're responsible for paying for your trip to Romania....

darbypitcher22;375478 wrote:tell them they're responsible for paying for your trip to Romania....

Because most people pay for their own business trips when not self-employed...

What I meant was it better be on that division's dime, not his

Tell 'em to fuck off. 'Cause you're the boss.

darbypitcher22;375491 wrote:What I meant was it better be on that division's dime, not his

That's standard anyways. They're not too worried about if I want to go to Romania or not.. not that they should be either as it's my job.

I dunno.. You'd just prefer to do things your way.

GoChiefs;375545 wrote:Tell 'em to fuck off. 'Cause you're the boss.

Whats funny is these guys get what they ask for and you Canton guys get whatever the company says you can afford lol.... which is bare minimum.

I don't know what it is with Europe's fascination with Siemens components. I'm with you Z4P, they make cheap components that break often.

However, every European job I've ever been on INSISTS on Siemens.

jmog;375550 wrote:I don't know what it is with Europe's fascination with Siemens components. I'm with you Z4P, they make cheap components that break often.

However, every European job I've ever been on INSISTS on Siemens.

It's such terrible quality and it's expensive as hell. I don't get it.

ZWICK 4 PREZ;375549 wrote:Whats funny is these guys get what they ask for and you Canton guys get whatever the company says you can afford lol.... which is bare minimum.

Well no shit. Their not going to spend a bunch of money on us when they are just going to shut us down soon anyways..that would be stupid from a business stand point.

Don't swap semens with a Romanian. That's like the first rule of international engineering etiquette.

I remember doing a study in our research lab once on a Siemens control valve. The "results" or "recommendations" at the end basically consisted of me saying "don't ever use Siemens, they suck balls" paraphrased of course, the report had much bigger words .

Think Big Picture Zwick... If they insist on using and paying for you to replace inferior parts, roll with it and make sure every time you go to Romania you play at least 36 holes at their best coarse.

Try to work in some hot Romanian chicks each visit too...

Hey! The cost just when up ....... are they willing to agree to the additional cost of using Siemens

Zwick if you build/designing the equipment than build it to meet the specification of Allen-Bradley performance contact the Romanian and tell him to get the components from Siemens that will meet or excess the specification per your design built specs.

Need any high tech gauges for that equipment?

build it with siemens then put a big ol american flag sticker on the inside of the PLC panel.