Comments on: Firmware Wall of Shame: Kenmore Elite Electric Range

By: david

david — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:23:11 +0000

i have that same oven – had the repairman come once after a few years like you. fortunately it was only a fuse (i think). i had the keyboard go on the matching dishwasher, because the product design doesn't have a gasket or water seal around the keypad, so make sure you don't have wet hands when you push the keypad on the dishwasher; i also had to replace the thermal overload last week apparently it may be undersized (design).

By: Kyle Bostian

Kyle Bostian — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:55:31 +0000

To Lisa's comment, you may arrive at the same answer if the cost of fixing downstream quality problems is accounted for. It is difficult to estimate, though, because you are comparing two numbers, each of which is the product of a really big number and a really small number. On one hand, you have units shipped (large) times incremental cost (small). On the other, failure rate (hopefully small) times cost to repair (very high). Note the paradox: the more reliable your product is, the lower the cost you can justify.

By: Lisa Simone

Lisa Simone — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:32:51 +0000

I just finished a stint managing a Value Engineering group – essentially assessing an entire product to remove cost. BOM, manufacturing cost, etc. Assuming the original stove *did* have a secondary debugging interface, removing "duplications" such as this is common. Engineering teams really have to fight with strong justifications to prevent changes like this (engineers don't generally initiate these cost reductions), and they often don't win. Costs to fix downstream quality problems like yours aren't factored into the equation because short-term, they don't exist.

By: Yogeesh

Yogeesh — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:47:23 +0000

This should be eye-opener or wake-up call for such 'Crap' makers!

Just check this link:

http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/1/55760-what-should-we-teach-new-software-developers-why/fulltext