ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses a contact problem experienced by operators on a high-volume assembly line in the manufacture of electronic control modules. All of the numerous minute electrical components were machine installed during an operation that was so fast that their installation was not discernable to the eye. Hundreds of components were added to a motherboard at a speed that precluded any recognition of the items that were being placed. The motherboard was transferred through individual stations until a final assembly station where resistors, chips, and the final motor lead frame contact device were mounted. While reviewing the system, the control plan was also checked, and it was found that the trays that contained the motor lead frames were not being loaded onto the automatic loader as specified. The number of motor lead frame damages was reduced by half from the customary level after the air pressure regulator was changed.