Of kilopascal "The article made me think and wonder if when these foreign engineers are contracted to design products for American companies,"
I have some experience of US clients, so here is my response. It is not common for me to use measurement units in my work but it does occasionally happen (as you can see from previous postings). Being British means that I have few problem thinking in old units if required and it merely feels like stepping back in time. Being a foreign subcontractor always means there is one more issue to be careful about. The competition is against US companies and the manager may have taken a bold step to go 'foreign'. I am often in tough negotiations and merely being foreign can be used as argument against an idea. I even try to avoid UK spelling when communicating to US clients. " do they do it in SI or in FFU?" I respond to the need of the client. I provide the client with the benefit of knowledge from sources in the US and elsewhere, therefore there would be metric influence. Usually I translate into non-metric units in conversation in the same way that a German speaker uses English for an English speaker. "So, would foreign Engineers give in and use FFU to satisfy an American client" Yes I do. " and then maybe use their FFU experience on other projects not related to America?" No I don't. "Would they be a force to change American habits of using FFU to that of using SI?" Of course. International contacts do cross-fertilise. How much is another question that depends on the project. "In this particular article, these engineers are from the Indian company of Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Note that India is a former British colony and they adopted many British traditions (driving on the left, UK plugs). I am sure that the British attempted to use UK measurements in India before independence. "Would these Indian Engineers attempt to convince their American Client that using metric is more cost effective in the long term?" I doubt it. My experience with Indian engineers is that you get exactly what you ask for (even if it is not what you meant). "Would they do their designs in metric and if required convert them to FFU if the client demands it? Or would they work completely in FFU?" It could be either. It would be influenced by whether they were on-site in the US (using US tooling/methods) or off-site in India (Indian tooling/methods). "If Engineering is going to be outsourced, this is the perfect opportunity for bringing metric into US made products on a more subtle approach." International contacts will always be good for internationalisation. "Kind of like sneaking it in the back door. And thus creating a greater demand for such things as metric sized steel, metric fasteners, etc." I wouldn't place too much emphasis on subcontracting of technical work. Bigger influences are likely to be: * buying in supplies * deliberate manufacturing to sell internationally -- Terry Simpson Human Factors Consultant [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.connected-systems.com Phone: +44 7850 511794
