Content area
Abstract
Damage from the Southern California earthquake of 1994 forced Packard Bell to relocate its PC business, and demand for its computers forced a new consideration of automated production strategies. A $1.8 million investment in manufacturing cells and a line shaft zero pressure accumulating conveyor reduced direct labor costs per unit by nearly half and more than tripled capacity. However, cramped quarters eventually led Packard Bell to lease an old army depot. With full-scale production called for in just nine months, a plan was devised to bring manufacturing on-line in stages. According to Mo Khan, manager of industrial space at Packard Bell, the deadline was met by strategies such as setting up miniature training lines so that hundreds of new employees could hit the ground running when production began ramping up. The key to success was actually using the earthquake as an opportunity to get into new technology in a small-scale way. Recently reconfigured conveyor lines and a work-in-process tracking system under development continue Packard Bell's improvement process.