A look at the big role capital plays in the success or failure of any business venture is perhaps a consideration of only one half of the equation. Sure, capital plays a seemingly critical role in the success or even in the mere existence of big projects, like the running of the airports which operate big airlines; space projects; mass-manufacturing, etc.
However, when one takes into account the technical side of such huge operations, the seemingly critical role of capital duly becomes reduced to a crucial one, at best. What rightfully assumes the critical role status is a combination of all the little technical cogs and details which make the operations possible.
For instance, the likes of NASA wouldn’t be able to send astronauts on a manned space mission to the International Space Station were it not for the small, technical details considered in the manufacture and installation of cogs such as ball transfer units. Looking-in on all proceedings, the untrained eye would never be able to spot something like that as a key component of the smooth operation of the heavy machinery that has to be moved around. But then again, even the trained eye can’t see transfer unit balls from the typical onlooker’s distance. You’d have to move a lot closer, perhaps even “peeping under the hood,” so to say… and you’d also have to know exactly what to look for.
Ask the baggage handling staff what those little cogs are they handle, every single day when they’re loading up their Boeings and Airbuses. They probably couldn’t tell you, yet they interact with them daily. Those who might have an idea would probably refer to them using some made-up jargon and they have no real incentive to learn about the technical details because these are components built to last.
You’d be very hard-pressed to find any report about a ball transfer unit failing or being worn out, as they’re manufactured to the highest standards to handle some very heavy-duty use. That’s why you never, ever hear about companies such as Omnitrack if you’re not directly involved in the management- and planning-level of an organisation that would require the integration of omni-directional movement components such as these.
It’s only at something close to that level that once it gets introduced to them, shining the spotlight on what is a very intriguing and interesting hidden world. Albeit it’s a world hidden in plain sight.
What internet search would you have run to land on the page of an omnidirectional movement components manufacturer? It would have to be something pretty specific, but once you get introduced to this intriguing world of these small details that make the biggest tasks possible, it becomes impossible to “un-see” it.
You watch a rocket-launch on television, for instance, and your mind starts to disappear down the rabbit-hole of trying to guess where the likes of spring loaded and pneumatic transfer unit balls could have been used and perhaps which of the 200+ models of that class of units available were used.
They’re everywhere and yet you don’t see them anywhere!