Dated early 2007, these suggestions radically changed the company's manufacturing process, and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars per quarter, by eliminating the wastage of small, installable PCMCIA hard drives at a cost of $10,000.00 per unit.
In retrospect, everyone said the change seemed obvious.
I wrote this longhand on a legal pad, on my lunch hour, while working as a technical trainer on a factory floor.
Not very long afterwards, I was auditing and re-writing all procedures in my section, and creating training manuals for the new processes.
REPORT ON PCMCIA PROCEDURES
IN CRS-1 TEST
Issue:
Continued necessity of retesting PCMCIA-equipped boards due to MFI failures, caused by handling damage. Failures of PCMCIA cards at MFI due to small cosmetic defects in card labels and re-work of the door assembly due to damage to the delicate metal gasket are prevalent, and each repair loses time, money, and necessitates re-testing of the boards. GOLD PCMCIA cards are loose on the floor with no counting or accountability, and there is no set procedure across shifts to approach this operation.
Cost:
Lost test time, missed commits, damaged door gaskets and door assemblies, major and minor damage to cards themselves, as well as the ports they plug into.
Suggested Action:
PCMCIA cards should be treated like daughter cards. Both Production- and GOLD- PCMCIA cards should be installed as part of the assembly process in Brackets, the door screwed shut once by a qualified assembler with proper torque specifications, and not re-opened unless:
- Bad PCMCIA card needs replacing in mid-test.
- Board should follow fail traveler process, and when diagnosed as a PCMCIA
fail, return to brackets for proper part replacement, and re-start test process.
- GOLD PCMCIA needs removal for shipping.
- Board door is opened, card is removed by qualified and properly equipped
System Build personnel with correct tools and specification.
Conclusion:
The screw on the PCMCIA slot door has a torque specification. Operators with hand-held screwdrivers should never have been allowed to open and close it with concomitant damage to doors, screws, and board frames. Considering this an “open” procedure that any local person on hand can deal with outside of any process and with no accountability has cost us money and time.