CR4 would like to thank PJ Sikorsky, PE of GEA Consulting for contributing this blog entry. This is the last blog post in a series on repetitive problems in material selection.

As we've discussed in previous blog posts, there are lots of reasons we may have less than optimum materials selected for the products we produce: 1) Time or supply constraints forced us to use 'premium' materials during development and we never got back to cost reduce the product in production. 2) Times and markets changed and what was a good material selection years ago is no longer an appropriate choice. 3) We simply copied the material selection from older parts into newer parts without giving it any thought….. The list can go on and on.

My experience has shown that once we have 'institutionalized' a poor material selection it is very difficult to change. This, too, happens for a lot of reasons, but mostly it happens because of our natural engineering conservatism which tells us not to mess with success. If we're successfully producing parts and they're not breaking in the field, why change materials? Changing materials entails risk, I can't tell you how many times I've had design engineers tell me they wouldn't even consider a material change because, 'One failure will eat up a whole year's material cost savings.' The answer to that is to do our homework and clearly and objectively define what the current situation actually is and what the real risks and rewards of change are. Often times, the current situation isn't as great as we think it is, it's just that we're used to it and we know how to deal with the problems and shortcomings of the traditional material. Also, objective consideration of the risks and rewards of a material change can have surprising results. It's hard for us to realize that, just as there is a risk in making a change, there is risk in not changing. If our competitors can figure out how to use materials more effectively and economically than we do we are conceding an economic advantage to them that will be very difficult to overcome.

The goal should be to select and implement the 'best' material for every application and to review those selections regularly to assure we're not giving our competitors an unearned advantage.