Re: RP in the Electronics Community

From: Thomas Stangler (Tracor Applied Sciences)
To: Mike Branciforte (Eastman Kodak  Company)
Cc: RP-ML
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 1994
Subject: Re: RP in the Electronics Community

Mike Branciforte stroked the keyboard.....
= I'm wondering if there are any RP enthusiasts from the Electronics Community
= "out there".  I see some discussion around the Mechanical community (a la 
= stereolithography, etc.), but have not yet seen anything pertaining to the 
= EE community.  

     We do it here at TRACOR, but RP for me means rapid PRODUCTION where the production run consists of one or two of an animal for delivery to a customer, who will deploy (yes, its a Military customer) with it to the field. (I detest the word prototype because our engineers feel it gives them and the assembly personnel the freedom to ignore all the good workmanship practices they have learned. How about pre-production unit?)

= The need exists to do RP in the EE community and I'd like to hear how others
= are addressing this.  For printed-circuit-board assemblies , as well as 
= for IC's (ASIC, FPGA, etc.).  What is the current state-of-the art?  Wire-wrap?

     We build our own pcb's for the quickie jobs. A visit to the local Radio Shack, some tape (or the UV 
exposed laser pattern), and a bit of chemical wash, and poof, instant pcb. Add a dremel and you're ready to mount components.    further units (after the initial rush) are  procured from pcb vendors.
     One of the ways we get it done is have VERY close ties to our metal vendors and powder-coat paint 
vendor. Our engineers have been known to "live" there while the shop bends. He keeps the drawings "red-
lined" to reflect the unit.
     At the completion of the quick portion of the job, we revise all the drawings, test ptocedures, parts lists, etc, and produce a production package. then when the customer comes back from the field, we take his feedback and upgrade the unit, he tests/examines it again, and then off to the production line, and make 30 or 40 of them, normal time.
     it meets our customer's needs. some items might not be real pretty, but the customer knows it, and 
participates in the process. Gives  him what he wants.
Tom Stangler