The main issue is getting the written OK to use the data of choice from
the customer, and also the OK to run the job with the issues that you
find. Without this you a wholly responsible for any issues that are
found in the units. Being able to produce a document that says "run it
as is", even against you recommendations is worth a million dollars.
Also, it is very likely that by pushing for a written waiver, the people
you are talking to will ultimately look for the needed advice from
within.
Jeffrey Bush
Director, Quality Assurance and Technical Support
76 Technology Drive - POB 1890
Brattleboro, Vermont 05302-1890
Tel. 802.257.4571.21 Fax. 802.257.0011
[log in to unmask]
http://www.vtcircuits.com
-----Original Message-----
From: H. S. Miller [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 1:17 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Death by Lethal Customer
My company has found itself ensnared in a frivolous attempt of extortion
on behalf of one of its newest "partners" cum customers.
The purpose of this message is to get as many people to respond with
"what I would do....." feedback to the following questions (I have
structured the survey in a multiple choice format for ease of use; only
5 questions):
a. Your customer hands you three different design packages for one PCB;
one version in Gerber and two versions in CAM350 (one is for
manufacturing and the other is a previous revision for reference only)
and tells you that the GERBER and CAM350 versions are the same and to
release the requirement to manufacturing. What do you do?
1. Believe them because the customer is always right.
2. Verify through a comparative analysis if both designs are identical.
3. Blend both formats and see what comes out of the oven.
(We did number #2 and were punished for the delays it caused, even
though the two design packages were different and we were later told to
ignore the Gerber version)
b. Your customer then tells you to ignore the Gerber version, and
instructs you to use the CAM350 version only and to release to
manufacturing immediately (because of the time lost in matter outlined
in item #a). When asked, "but we might have design related questions
that need clarification......", the customer responds with "There should
be no questions, this has been manufactured many times with no
problems......"What do you do?
1. Believe them because if our competitors can build it, what is our
problem? 2. Conduct a proper DFM/DRC review to determine if their are
any design conflicts requiring resolution. 3. Take out your wallet and
hand it to your customer.
c. We did number #2, and problems were found with the design. Our
customer then proceeded to inform us of our engineering incompetence and
asked why we didn't compare the previous revision (the CAM350 file that
was marked for reference only) to the current revision because all the
"answers" are there. What do you do?
1. Tell the customer that you are sorry for your incompetence and
explain to him that your company is only use to receiving one PCB design
for one PCB manufacturing requirement. 2. Do a comparative analysis
between the old revision and new revision to see if differences exist
and seek the "answers". 3. Explain to your customer that ISO, IPC and
industry standards mean very little to your company and that although we
experienced some difficulties in manufacturing one PCB from four PCB
designs this time, tell him that your internal targets are to be able to
manufacture one PCB from 12 PCB designs by year's end.
(We did numbers #1 and #2 and it proved to be "strike 3" in the
customer's eyes. Our incompetence is unprecedented. Both designs
contained the identical
problems/conflicts)
d. Our stated leadtime was X after all engineering questions have been
answered and production A/W has been approved; our "incompetence" lead
to a missed delivery (but product was delivered within stated leadtime
after all prestated conditions were met). What do you?
1. Apologize for your incompetence, and explain that the parts were
delivered under the agreed upon conditions. 2. Fire your entire
engineering department because your customer clearly knows more about
this industry then they do. 3. Offer your customer an advisory position
in your engineering department to spearhead the "Build 1 PCB from Many
PCB Designs" initiative to be rolled out later in the year.
e. The total value of the purchase order is 3200 (Production +
Tooling); your customer wants a penalty of 9000 (the cost of quickturn
boards to make up for our incompetence) + FREE PCB's + FREE TOOLING +
FREE TRANSPORTATION. What do you do?
1. Offer FREE PCB's + FREE TOOLING + FREE TRANSPORTATION, not as an
admittance of guilt but in the spirit of partnership and the expressed
willingness to "take one for the team" and hope for breakeven on the
backend. 2. Agree to pay the full extent of the extortion amount and
then immediately seek a testimonial letter from the customer. 3. Agree
to pay the full extent of the extortion, and ask the customer for
references to individuals that do business the way he does; because the
economy, offshore competition, and rising material costs has "lost its
bite" and you are looking for a new challenge.
I know that I have used a dose of levity to explain an otherwise very
serious situation.
I am attempting (in an off color manner) to show the customer the
"follies" of their posturing and hope that the industry can assist me in
telling them what is wrong with this situation and behavior.
EVERYONE PLEASE CHIME IN
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Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
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