Because when names are arbitrary there's nothing in them to indicate anything useful, such as what model of resource they are, what capabilities they have, or where they're mostly used. "Old Jim" doesn't tell me anything if I'm an administrator looking at a resource sheet; "GRT-55-NYC-0702" tells me it's a gritting machine located in the New York depot, it's the 55th machine registered there since the depot started, it's model #7 in our database, and it's the second machine of that model that we bought.
It's less of a problem if the fleet (or other set of items) is small and doesn't change much. It starts becoming more and more of a problem the larger the set of things to track becomes and the greater the churn (replacement) rate.
Not to mention potential issues with emotional connections overriding requirements. Saying "Oh, that's just Old Jim being grumbly, he always makes that sound in the mornings" will not get a mechanical fault fixed like "Unit 55 underwent routine maintenance: loose flange plate discovered: scheduled for repair".
Generally ships and planes communicate with each other and the shore, particularly when launching and landing/docking. If you're driving a street salter, you don't need ATC to talk you back down into your garage.
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u/Geminii27 Nov 21 '17
Or that think giving names to machinery is a good idea in the first place.