The Cost Analysis Story

1973

Written 09/2012 * 350 Words

By Howard Yasgar

This story was told to me by my good friend Barney Kaplan.

Barney was in the automotive electrical parts business in Detroit Michigan. Unfortunately, my good friend Barney passed away at 96 years of age in 2015.

Barney told me this was a true story that happened while he was located on Wabash Avenue in Detroit.

To make the story more understandable, I must explain what automobile armature is.

An armature is the rotating part inside a car’s generator, it is wound with copper wire, and sometimes when rebuilding a cars generator the armature needs replacing.

Back in 1973 Barney was a supplier of good clean used armatures, he would buy old used generators from Detroit junk yards then he would remove the armatures, clean them up and test them.

Once they were clean and tested Barney would put them on a shelf for sale.

Barney Kaplan was well known in Detroit as always having good, reconditioned armatures in stock.

One day a salesman that knew Barney stopped by to see him.

As they were standing there talking business a customer came in looking for an armature for his

Car generator.

Barney went into his shop with the customer and the salesman in tow.

He walked over to a shelf and removed good used armature, and he again tested it with a meter.

Satisfied that the armature looked good, he then took it to a bench, where Barney hesitated for a moment, then he put the armature on a lathe.

As the lathe turned the armature, Barney gently tapped the armature with a plastic hammer, he did it for about a minute.

Barney removed the armature from the lathe and handed it to the customer requesting $8.95.

The customer paid Barney and left with the armature.

The salesman then said to Barney, “I understand what testing with the meter was all about, but what the heck was the tapping of the armature with the plastic hammer for.

Barney said, “It was for nothing, but it gave me time to think about what to charge the customer”.