Inside Elitegroup Computer Systems: From Taipei to Shen Zhen
by Kristopher Kubicki on October 4, 2003 12:39 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
E-Trend: More QA
The previous factory wing we were in used line assembly for the motherboards and high volume laptops. Since those are high volume productions (1 million boards or more!), tooling a line over for the final motherboard makes sense. However, in this part of the factory, a cell approach is better suited.
About six workers each accomplish several tasks per station rather than 20 workers accomplishing 1 task. The result is a lower output, but easier turnarounds for smaller orders. Keep in mind, when ECS says small, that could be anywhere between 5,000 to 25,000 units.
In the background, you can see these systems running a burn-in test. While the previous systems we saw ran for 4 hours, this client required their new systems to burn in for 8 hours.
Here, you will see ECS employees dismantle some OEM laptops to remove the processor and hard drive. The OEM client will then put their own CPU and hard drive into the laptop.
Below we have a snapshot of a real lot of OEM systems. There are 36 systems per pallet and about 15 pallets; and this isn’t even the warehouse.
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Sengir - Thursday, April 22, 2004 - link
They need to rework their Quality Control policies.. and pay more to their workers.As I stated in a different article.
I am a Service Technician with a large electronics retailer on the West coast.
ECS is our #1 returned motherboard/computer (Great Quality brand).
If you plan on buying or building a computer system, stay away from ECS and Great Quality.
davemc759 - Sunday, March 21, 2004 - link
To compare and contrast you may wish to look athttp://www.legitreviews.com/Reviews/corsair_trip_1...
Being a lifer in the electronics manufacturing industry in the US, stories like these really bring home just how volatile the work situation really is. If the mainstay of economic stability is gauged by productivity, it would appear China has more working in it's favor than simply cheap labor.
Rumpltzer - Tuesday, November 4, 2003 - link
NMAnonymous User - Friday, October 24, 2003 - link
The people who say ECS make crap Boards should read more carefully. ECS makes also mbs for Shuttle and Abit!Anonymous User - Thursday, October 9, 2003 - link
Interesting article. I use an ECS board in mysystem 'cause by American standards I'm poor.
It works fine and the slight bugs that seem to be
there are most likely software related....
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 9, 2003 - link
Love the article, very insightful.Anonymous User - Thursday, October 9, 2003 - link
Free room and board.Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
I have three ECS board based machines (including one dual PIII) and one PC-Chips board machine. They are running well. I am doing a lot of IT development and run some server apps on them. Seems to me they are even better than the equivalent HP PCs at work.Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
Every country has its way to develop , China has it too. and China is on its way now. China will become stronger and stronger, look back american , you can see there are so many chinese in your university, they are working hard too. china become strong is not just because of cheap labour.Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
I'd really enjoy this story and all of the valuable information from this auther. I do further believe that all American should work harder or appeciate the shear fact that we live in a very VERY good enviroment. I appeciate life more when I do see what are the living condition and (average) standard of living is so much different in China/India or even the very mondernized Taiwan.I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS COMMENT!! Thank you!!
J.S.