A manufacturing plant was having trouble with a new machine. The huge mechanical monster simply wouldn’t run. They had tried everything. Nothing worked. It hiccuped, it moaned, it struggled. But it didn’t run. It was costing a fortune each day it was down.
Finally the CEO called in a consultant. The man arrived at 10 AM. He had a briefcase. He opened the briefcase and took out a pair of overalls and put them on. He then took out a ball peen hammer.
The consultant climbed into the barely running machine, stared at it for a moment, then took the hammer and hit the machine. It immediately settled down and ran perfectly. He took off his overalls, and put them and the hammer in his briefcase.
He then left at 10:15, telling the CEO he would submit his invoice.
A week later the CEO received an invoice for $100,000. Incensed, he called the consultant and demanded an itemized statement. He received the following:
Wear and tear on Ball Peen Hammer……….$1.50
Dry cleaning of Overalls ………………………..$8.50
Knowing where to hit…………………….$99,990.00
The invoice was paid the next day.
JVH
