Let's Run Some Scrap!
While I was a quality control person on second shift, I tried to prevent scrap. Also, I did my best to keep the on-hold inventory to a minimum. So I would try to determine the disposition of a lot, then have it scrapped, reworked, or released. This was an ongoing battle.
A process engineer there wanted to find out some results at various processing conditions. So he went ahead and ran pallet after pallet of scrap. On purpose! This ridiculous endeavor was extremely costly. Why would we make every effort to run efficiently and reduce cost, then pay good money to have doofuses like him running around pretending to be a genius.
Why didn't anyone stop this guy? Because he had a budget to waste?
Finally, I knew I was right, so I was ready to put a stop to his madness. So I went up to the guy and told him that I would not allow him to run anything on second shift. Then I imagined what all I would have to do to defend myself when I got to work the next day.
To my surprise, nothing was said. No one said whether I was right or wrong. The engineer was fine with me the next day and didn't bring it up. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and shake my head. Once again.