Introducing Hiller Product Reviews
Back in the 1970s, I’m told IBM came up with a slogan you may have heard of: “No one got fired for buying an IBM computer.”
Hmmmm, I wonder if that was really true. I sure don’t see any IBM computers anymore (Lenovo is a Chinese company these days). Regardless, that was a strong message back then. In effect, it said “You’re safe if you buy an IBM. You won’t regret it. There’s no hidden surprises.” Which, when buying something as significant as a computer back then, was a reassuring message.
If you’re reading this there’s a good chance you use test and measurement equipment and, unless you’re in your 30’s or younger, you remember the IBM Message found a new home… “No one got fired for buying HP.”
Remember that? Turns out, we engineering-types need a little assurance as well before committing to a piece of test equipment that costs more than our house. It’s wise to be cautious with these decisions, as many of us “seasoned engineers” have found out the hard way. Spec sheets and actual performance can often differ. What we think we can do and what actually has to happen with a new piece of kit are often on opposite ends of our expectations. Thus, if we make the wrong call on that “new instrument smell” piece of kit, well, bad things can happen.
At Hiller, we know this all too well. Going back to our earliest days, we’ve integrated more than our share of new instruments, and have the scars to show it. It’s a large part of how Hiller Measurements’ Flow Control (HMFC) came in to being. We recognize that learning a new instrument has a cost. Thus, we’ve become prudent as to when and which instruments we choose to make those new investments.
In the coming weeks, Hiller will release version 1.0 of the HMFC catalog, containing a robust library of hardware we’ve already learned how to use and use exceptionally well. Some you’ll already know. Many may be new to you. Regardless, if we design using this catalog, schedules will be dramatically better and budgets lower. That’s something we can all get excited about.
Alongside the HMFC catalog, we’re setting the goal to release some 30-50 “Hiller Product Reviews,” (HPRs) annually, each outlining an instrument in the HMFC catalog, why and what we use it for, and perhaps more interesting, what we’ve learned about that instrument after using it a number of times. We figured sharing our experience, and the things you don’t hear in the demo, might be a better way to help you, our colleagues, “remain employed” apart from any one brand of kit.
If that’s helpful, I encourage you to throw your name on the HPR list to be notified when new HPRs are released — you can subscribe to receive email updates on the HPR page. We’ll keep the freshest reports on this page for at least 60 days. After that, they will be put in the library of resources we make available to our active customers.
One other thing. You and I in the T&M world make up a small community. If you’ve got experience with what we report on, and know something we don’t or forgot to mention, we’d love to hear from you.
We look forward to talking more as HMFC becomes commonplace.