Agent Steve --- In Mission Impossible --- Your assignment, should you choose
to accept it, will be to change the minds of the QA technicians.............

Wow Steve, who was it that said managers believe in Santa Claus because they
believe in magic?

Actually Steve, there is a way $$$$.  Get rid of the human.  We have similar
problems, not just with QA.  For example, a lead that is only 55% on the pad
will invariably get reworked.  When I have watched operators inspect some
particularly difficult parts to control, I could not figure out what they
considered a "good" solder joint, and a "bad" solder joint.  What was called
bad looked the same as what was call good!  It appeared that a certain
number of defects needed to be found, so the requirements would become
stricter or more lax to meet the quota.

On product where we use the HP 5-DX automated X-ray laminography machine, we
do not have a big problem with operators determining what constitutes a good
solder joint or a bad solder joint, because that decision is up to an
engineer and a machine.  Furthermore, the engineers and technicians involved
are able to do exactly what you indicated, that is, determine "what did the
machine not catch and subsequently needed to be reworked", and "what
requirement is the machine judging too strictly".

Unfortunately, the machine is very expensive $$$$$$.  The cheaper, but not
free, alternate is AOI $$, which will do similar things.  (Still expensive)

As far as doing it without capital expenditure and using existing
hominids.............This message will self destruct in 30 seconds......

Ryan G.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen R. Gregory [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 7:04 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      [TN] Rework vs. Quality...
>
> Hi ya'll!
>
> I know this is going to be question with no easy answers. What I want to
> ask
> is how do you go about evaluating the real effort that is being expended
> on
> rework or touch-up? Then prove what was necessary, and what wasn't?
>
> To set the stage, the process is mainly "gate-inspection" (I know that's
> not
> desirable) but that's what it is. Past history has been to meet standards
> that match a picture (Martin Marrietta comes to mind). Not whether or not
> touch-up or rework is adding any reliability or value to the finished
> product, or is just make it look like the pictures. (reading between the
> lines;..that quality mindset is THOROUGHLY ingrained here)
>
> So how do you getting a good un-biased snap-shot of what is actually going
> on
> out on the floor, and then go about changing things?
>
> I believe that there is no simple way. It's going to take a lot of time
> and
> effort to take assemblies that are in process, identify them by way of a
> serial number or some other means, have a referee (knowledgeable unbiased
> person) inspect them after each major process to determine what (if any)
> defects are on each assembly, then let them continue on through the
> process
> with the instructions that any rework or touch-up performed on the
> assemblies
> must be documented as accurately and completely as possible as to what
> defects were observed, where, and why they were reworked. Then afterwords,
> an
> assessment done on the whole quality process.
>
> As you may guess, there is some thought going around that we rework more
> things than we need to. I'm just trying to find a way that will be the
> most
> effective, and that will be as unbiased as possible. Also as you may
> guess,
> this subject can get pretty emotional with the QA folks...I butt heads
> every
> single day. I want to find a way that nobody can argue with.
>
> Yes, It does still seem a little silly that I need to secretly strategize
> a
> plan to bring out the realities of the situation in order to convince
> certain
> people to change their philosophies. But I have been asked to do it, and I
> got the the task because they think that I have a magic solution to change
> certain mind-sets, but I don't. I'm asking if any of ya'll have had to go
> through a situation such as this, and what you did to resolve the obvious
> issues...
>
> Thanks everybody!
>
> -Steve Gregory-
>
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