The Eight Habits

The practices that separate good solutions engineers from average ones. Build them in from the beginning, because they're harder to add later. The methodology handles the technical part. These handle everything else.

Get the required rate in writing before you run any calculations. Every number in the Product Spec Calc flows from the rate. A verbal rate isn't a rate. An email confirmation is the floor.
Never design to the average carton. Design to the worst case, and document which carton it is. The average carton won't cause a gap failure; the minimum-length carton will. It won't tip on an incline; the tall, high-center-of-gravity carton will. Write down which carton and why.
Always run the gap check. Every time. No exceptions. It's the last thing standing between your proposal and a collision at commissioning. It takes five minutes.
Document every assumption at the time you make it. An assumption not written down is gone by the time you draft the proposal, and it's a commitment anyway.
Never let an open item stay open past the next customer touchpoint. An open item becomes an assumption, then a scope gap, then a change order or a margin problem. Close it hard.
Read the flow diagram cold before the proposal goes out. If you can't narrate the full carton path without asking a question, the diagram isn't done. It catches errors later reviews miss.
Ask the customer what a bad day looks like. The required rate is the target. The real constraint is the peak before a holiday, or the day volume compresses.
Separate what you know from what you were told. What you measured is different from what the customer told you. Keep the categories distinct. It protects you, and it's honest.

DESIGN PRINCIPLE The industry needs engineers who think this way.