A Legacy of Solutions

A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and an easy fix was not to be found. The CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.

Third-parties were selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution, they solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the project reports and discovered amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” — he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. After some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. “Oh, that,” says one of the workers — “one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang to restart the line”

Simple solutions are often overlooked in favor of the complicated in life, and in faith the same is true. Today the religious landscape is unnecessary confusing often because the simple solutions of scripture are ignored in favor of more complicated man-made doctrines. In my opinion, one of the greatest legacy’s we can leave to those who follow us are simple bible based answers to the complex questions life throws our way.

×Note: To download, click the button. If it doesn't work, right click, then click "Save Link As." Download only works if media is stored within this site. Download Video
Back to top