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Grekov, the chief engineer of the instrument—making plant, is looking for a way out of the difficult situation at the plant: suppliers fail - they have to resort to assault, technology is disrupted, and quality suffers. The Institute of Production Management Problems, to which Grekov is seeking help, suggests introducing a new, as yet untested automated control system at the plant. Grekov agrees, although his colleagues, as one, believe that he chose the wrong time for this.