Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/09/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Bill - Terrific summary of what needs to be done. We really are on the same wavelength. Regards, Dick On Sep 16, 2009, at 6:19 PM, William B. Abbott III wrote: > Hi Dick, > > Thanks. Amen, I quite agree, and that is partially what I meant by > the word "managing an interface," but I resorted to short hand. > > I have long believed that Leica has great in-house design and > manufacturing capabilities but lacked effective supplier controls > experience. I hope that has changed. > > In critical areas, I think much more than awareness of suppliers' > activities is needed and I sense that we could talk about that for a > week or more. > > Supplier controls is what is required to insure that as far as is > humanly possible, no changes creep into the production line, i.e, > that the products of serial production are identical to those > development items (or the initial production items) which passed > tests to verify that they meet the desired development goals and > specs, sometimes called qualification tests, i.e, qualified for > production. > > By "managing an interface" I meant, for critical components, > contracting with a supplier to meet the entire design disclosure of > their product and to give the buyer "change control authority" over > all of it, i.e., all changes must be approved by the buyer. This > includes, > > - engineering product design disclosure documentation, > - quality assurance plans and procedures > - material specs and material sources, > - manufacturing tooling and fixture design, processes and procedures, > - test equipment design, maintenance and calibration, test and > inspection procedures, > - material receipt, storage, shipping, packaging and handling > procedures and practices > - etc. > > The precise meaning of "change control authority" has to be > negotiated in some detail for obvious reasons and can mean many > things. In addition, suppliers have to flow these requirements down > to its critical suppliers to whatever degree makes sense and the > buyer must routinely conduct audits to verify compliance with the > contract. > > Obviously, many items cannot be procured this way, and other > measures have to be taken to insure homogeneity in production, such > as incoming inspection, lot testing, increased supplier testing, etc. > > If this sounds like a mouthful, it is, and I believe that Leica > routinely does all of these things in regard to its own internal > processes and for their piece part and material suppliers, or else > they would not have had the success they have had. Extending that > awareness and control to major suppliers requires a considerable > management effort. > > A final note: The thought of finishing a development model and > "engineering" it for production, that is, the old way of throwing > the engineering design over the transom for the production > department to build, is anathema to me. > > IMHO, from day one, the product design and development testing, as > well as the manufacturing flow, have to start maturing in tandem, so > that a tested and proofed production line, including suppliers > lines, can be ready when the product design matures. > > I was very happy to see in the M9 video that the activity in view > "seemed" to be taking place in a full production environment, not in > a lab, which tells me that Leica developed the M9 and its production > processes in tandem, together, and not serially. If I am right, they > deserve a lot of credit for bringing the production on line this > way. I just hope they have brought their suppliers up to speed along > with them. > > All the best, > > Bill > > > > > > > On Sep 16, 2009, at 9:14 AM, Richard Taylor wrote: > >> That, unfortunately, is not sufficient. You have to understand and >> verify your supplier's processes, hardware and software >> sufficiently well to assure errors and omissions on their part will >> not compromise your own product. >> >> Regards, > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information