An integrated manufacturing data management system

A flexible data management system (FDMS) that supports the collection, management, and analysis of production data for a 3-1/2-in disk drive product is described. This system consists of several personal computers and Personal System 2 computers connected via a token ring network and can be extended to support any type of assembly manufacturing. FDMS supports the following: (1) collection of pass-fail and parametric data from workstations and testers throughout the manufacturing floor; (2) ability to query these data, based on the serialized component, record type, date/time, or combinations of these; (3) ability to display statistical process control (SPC) charts based on any of the parameters collected from the testers and or workstations in real time; (4) automatic rework calls and parts disposition provided via an expert system application; (5) a method for users to define new or change existing data record formats to the system that requires no code changes to any of the support programs; (6) support of high-volume production via a distributed database architecture; (7) support for a management aid engineering reporting system; and (8) software level control distribution of computer programs and process data such as microcode or machine instructions to any node on the network