OT question

[A. Maberry]

I hate to bother the list with what is basically a definition question but
I am looking for the name (if one exists) of a particular technical
concept.

This it the concept: in a very large system (of anything, e.g. the Boeing
Company inventory of airplane parts, or the Amazon.com warehouse etc.)
there will be a certain amount of error beyond which the error rate cannot
be further reduced. Certain parts will get mislabeled, some perhaps by
clerical error, some by defective labels perhaps, some of the labels will
be correct but the parts will be put in the wrong place anyway. At any
rate, in a complex system a certain amount of error will occur and the
word or concept I'm looking for is that constant error rate that can be
taken as a given for any system.

Again, sorry to bother the list with this, and please respond off-list.

allen
maberry at u.washington.edu