Insert Knob A in Hole B is a science-fiction short story by Isaac Asimov.
A standalone story, it was first published in the December 1957 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was later collected in 1969's Nightfall and Other Stories.
Summary[]
In a remote space station, two men are tasked with assembling all their equipment from Earth. The equipment arrives unassembled and is accompanied by vague and confusing instructions, which one of the men describes as being "composed by an idiot." As a result, the assembled equipment often fails to work properly or does not work at all.
The two men eagerly await the delivery of a sophisticated positronic robot, which they expect will solve their problems by repairing the existing faulty equipment and correctly assembling all future shipments.
When the robot arrives, they discover it has been shipped in five hundred separate pieces. The shipment includes a set of assembly instructions that are as vague and confusing as those they have always received.