The chief engineer of the instrument-making plant, Grekov, is looking for a way out of the difficult situation that has developed at the plant: suppliers fail - they have to resort to assault, technology is disrupted, quality suffers. The Institute of Production Management Problems, to which Grekov turns for help, proposes to introduce a new, not yet tested automated control system at the plant. Grekov agrees, although his colleagues, one and all, believe that he chose not the most convenient time for this.
