Inspections -- Solutions/Ideas

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Ya know, I was just thinking... What if we broke down inspections by system and had specialized inspectors. If you don't have pneumatics, you bypass the pneumatics inspector. You stop and see the electrical guy and he looks at your wiring, checks over the list and sends you on your way.
First stop is safety, weight and size and then you can compete. Add the other stations during the day until you have passed everything. Everyone must be complete by 5 PM.
Let the Lead Inspector watch over everyone and take the hard cases. He and a few others could be exclusively responsible for rookie team inspections so they don't get confused by the inspection process.
I used a few dedicated Caterpillar engineers to troubleshoot in Minnesota last year. They went from team to team helping with problems and it took the heat off the inspectors and veteran teams there. (There were 38 rookies at that regional) It might work to have a dedicated volunteer be attached to every rookie for the weekend. They could help with robot problems and make sure the team gets to all matches. Let them know how the weekend will run and make sure they are having a good weekend. I think this needs to be an adult mentor who has seen it all. This addition of volunteers will tax the volunteer coordinator and meals, tshirts, etc. but it may be worth the small added expense.