??? 12/13/06 22:05 Read: times |
#129435 - maybe a narrower definition would be appropriate Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Jan Waclawek said:
I am asking for help with finding a proper English expression to describe the step (action, operation) performed at manufacturing of electronic devices, after the device was assembled, to make it working properly. This step includes testing, debugging, rework, initial setup/programming and is performed by skilled staff. In our language we use an expression which could be freely translated as "making alive" but I doubt this would be appropriate in english... Thanks, Jan Waclawek Unfortunately, your question is far too broad. It's not clear whether you're referring to a design or to an individual unit. Debugging, for example, is done on a design. Testing is done on a set of individual units, the design of which has been throughly debugged and which the designers, managers, technicians, etc, all believe works perfectly or at least as nearly so as possible. If the term you seek is the step right before packaging and shipping, then it is "outgoing inspection" and any number of standards could apply to that, none of which necessarily (thouth it might) involve ensuring that the specific device being packaged/shipped is functional. Normally this step is purely physical, intended to ensure that the part is not damaged or incomplete. If you're looking for a single term for a set of processes, then you need to be more specific, as you've put testing and debugging in the same sentence, and they're normally not even part of the same universe. Design and debugging is done in the U.S, for example, but testing is done in Indonesia, where the mass-production will also be done. Debugging happens during the first few weeks of a design-to-production cycle and ends there. Testing is an ongoing process that continues throughout the production cycle. Rework is a process done on manufactured units that are found to be defective or wanting in some way. Using the HDD example to which I previously referred, the PCB and HDA are separated one from the other and sent through the outgoing inspection process once again. If the PCB is found defective, it's discarded, and if the HDA is found defective, i.e. it survives none of the autmatic reconfigurations, it is scrapped. Otherwise, the components are combined, not necesarily with the same ones as were initially separated, and then sent out as "refurbished." Initial setup and programming are manufacturing steps. If you're referring to a pre-production prototype, the steps will be entirely different and performed by people not the same as those who would do it in a mass-production case. In the prototyping stage, the work is done by engineers, while in production, it is performed by technicians under the supervision of an engineer. RE |