Interesting article about the little-known owners of Tektronix...

[Nick]

"How Danaher, owner of Tektronix, became a stock-market star: Bloomberg View"

http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest..._into.html

[Mark Hennessy]

Although rumour has it that Danaher are about to do a HP/Agilent, and drop their T&M division: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/busine....html?_r=0

Which might not be a bad thing. Tek have really lost their way lately...

Danaher also own Fluke, Keithley and Amprobe, amongst others. They have all been assimilated: http://www.danaher.com/our-culture/danah...ess-system

[Nick]

Although rumour has it that Danaher are about to do a HP/Agilent, and drop their T&M division: 

That's all mentioned in the Bloomberg article too...

Its an interesting business - their kaizen business model is a good one - its interesting how many Japanese process models have made it into general acceptance in the Western World - kanban obviously being another (which also uses elements of kaizen in the concepts of continuous improvement)...

[Alan Douglas]

I had quite enough of kaizen and kanban and all the other flavors of the month when I was working.

[Mark Hennessy]

I mentioned it because the Bloomberg article is a bit vague about all that - outside of the headline, it doesn't even mention Tek, Fluke, Keithley et al by name. At a glance, it's easy to miss that fact, especially if you don't know how much Danaher own. Some folk think it's hugely significant - a lot blame Danaher for Tek's slump, although others argue that the rot set in long before the acquisition.

It's interesting that Tek and Fluke had a big legal spat about 15 years back over hand-held multimeters - had they known that they were going to be "brothers" in the future, they could have saved themselves a whole hill of cash

[AlanBeckett]

I had quite enough of kaizen and kanban and all the other flavors of the month when I was working.

Well said Alan, so did I.

Alan

[Mark Hennessy]

We have "Agile" today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

I make no comment

[AlanBeckett]

Well, you've got to find something to do in darkest Utah. A couple of weeks in Salina concentrates the mind, and I had a job to do. A 450 Mile drive to Denver to see my son was a very attractive proposition.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Sali...d?hl=en-GB

I particularly liked(?) 'Working software over Comprehensive documentation'.
So you ring up after a couple of Months to report a Bug. Documentation? Errrr

Alan

[Nick]

We have "Agile" today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

I make no comment

I run software teams using Agile methodologies - its not a proscribed path - think of it more as a smörgåsbord of techniques - pick and choose the ones most appropriate to your project.

The process, correctly implemented and run, works well. The problems normally seen are when only lipservice is paid to the process and there is no buy-in from those involved.

Used it for years - only way to run big projects - the traditional "waterfall" methodology is largely discredited, certainly in the financial markets.

[AlanBeckett]

And Documentation?

Alan