Case Studies On Cost-Effective Engineering Solutions

I have a great example of being curious about business problems and not falling in love with your first idea for a solution. Story time. At one point in Pipefy, we noticed a lower-than-ideal conversion rate after a first conversation with prospects. We could tackle this in a million ways: Should we change our pitch? Were our SDRs making mistakes? Should our training be different? Were we targeting the wrong companies? The list goes on. Everyone worked in our office back then. We decided to investigate and start small: people had complained before about the space being too loud and sounding like a call center at times. Maybe this was hurting sales more than we had imagined. We had a hypothesis. Now I’ll break down our process of investigating it: ➡️ Step 1: A/B testing. We had SDRs call customers from a more isolated space and noticed an improvement in conversion. Great, we identified a problem that had a real impact. Now, all kinds of solutions come to mind. Should we change our layout? Renovate the space? Move to a bigger office? ➡️ Step 2: Start with the most cost-effective option. For us, this meant first testing some acoustic isolating materials on desks and ceilings. That helped, but it wasn’t enough. Maybe we need to change our furniture or even isolate SDRs in individual cabins. ➡️ Step 3: Before you commit to the hard solution, go back to the problem and the basics. We went back to the drawing table, and a colleague suggested trying something simpler: what if we traded our current headsets for noise-canceling ones? 🧪 We ran another A/B test with different models, and, you guessed it, noise-canceling worked. The best pairs we tried were the most expensive ones, but they were way cheaper than an office remodel. And they became the standard equipment for the Pipefy team. Long story short: be curious about the problem, be curious about how to solve it, and always test.

Instead of spending millions to fix a problem, they made millions turning the problem into a product. Here's how a train company built a $50M water brand... Sometimes, the most ingenious ideas start with a problem. In the 1990s, Japan Railways (JR) East faced a major setback while building a bullet train tunnel under Mount Tanigawa in preparation for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Water kept flooding the tunnel. The logical solution? Build costly drainage systems to remove it. So a team of brilliant (highly paid) engineers analyzed the problem and drew up extensive plans for a multi-million dollar drainage system to divert the water from the tunnel. But ingenuity rarely follows logic. A maintenance worker, frustrated but observant, tasted the water and found it pure and refreshing. Instead of discarding it, he had an idea: bottle it, brand it, and sell it. And JR East listened. Soon, Oshimizu bottled water was in vending machines at over 1,000 stations, raking in over $50 million annually. What started as an engineering headache became a cornerstone of the company’s diversification strategy. So, how did they turn a problem into profit? • Empowering Observations: ↳ Frontline employees often see what executives miss. By valuing their insights, JR East unlocked a lucrative opportunity. • Turning Problems into Products: ↳ Instead of asking, “How do we fix this?” they asked, “How do we use this?” That simple mindset shift created an entirely new revenue stream. • Quick Execution: ↳ JR East didn’t let the idea linger in endless meetings. They acted decisively, recognizing the value in speed when an opportunity presents itself. Key Takeaways: 1. Inspiration is Everywhere: Your next big idea might be hiding in plain sight—if you’re willing to look at challenges differently. 2. Listen to Your Team: Sometimes, the most innovative solutions come from the people closest to the problem. 3. Act Boldly: Ideas only matter if you follow through. Hesitation kills innovation. JR East could’ve spent millions fixing a problem. Instead, they made millions turning that problem into a product. The question isn’t, “What challenges are we facing?” It’s, “What opportunities are they hiding?”

Case Study Saturday Use of Expanded Metal Roof Supports in a U.S. Underground Coal Mine Mine Type:    •   Room-and-pillar coal mine    •   Relatively soft shale roof    •   Depth: ~800 feet    •   Moderate horizontal stress environment Support System (before change):    •   Roof bolts only: 6-foot fully grouted bolts, 4-bolt pattern per row, 4-foot spacing. Problem Observed:    •   Small raveling of shale between bolts.    •   Loose pieces (soft shale) falling between bolt plates, leading to minor injuries and roof scaling issues. Support Modification (adding expanded metal):    •   Introduced expanded metal sheets (diamond cut, 1” x 1.5” openings) between the bolts, bolted directly against the roof.    •   Each sheet overlapped by 6 inches to prevent gaps.    •   No major change to bolt pattern. Results (after 6 months):    •   Roof scaling incidents dropped by 70%.    •   No reported injuries from loose rock.    •   Installation time per row increased by ~12 minutes due to the need to manually position sheets.    •   Material cost increase was offset by reduced downtime from scaling and cleanup (mine reported ~$80,000/year in reduced maintenance costs).    •   Roof Control Plan had to be modified and reapproved by MSHA to formally allow expanded metal as a recognized roof control element. Key Observations:    •   Expanded metal contained loose material effectively but did not prevent larger roof falls if major shear fractures occurred.    •   In wetter sections of the mine, corrosion of expanded metal became visible after about 12–18 months (leading to eventual replacement).    •   Management concluded expanded metal was ideal for raveling control, but not sufficient as the sole means of roof support in high-stress or fracture-prone areas. Summary Takeaways from This Case:    •   Good for minor ground control (raveling).    •   Not a substitute for bolts or larger structural supports.    •   Requires periodic inspection for corrosion.    •   Helped lower injury rates and maintenance costs in the right conditions. References: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2006). Performance of roof support systems in underground coal mining (Report of Investigations 9507). Mine Safety and Health Administration. (2010–2018). Roof control plans: Approved examples from underground coal mines. U.S. Department of Labor. [Individual plans accessed via FOIA and public MSHA archives.] National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2005). Roof screening best practices to reduce roof fall injuries (Information Circular 9458). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. University of Kentucky Department of Mining Engineering. (2004). Evaluation of supplemental roof supports to improve miner safety in underground mines. Peng, S. S., & Tang, D. (Eds.). (2005). Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Ground Control in Mining.