1990s revolution in power systems manufacturing

A revolution is underway in electronics manufacturing involving fundamental philosophy, structure, and process redesign. The authors describe how these changes have been carried out at AT&T Microelectronics´ Power Systems. Attention is given to the following aspects of this effort: quality, policy deployment, education and training, seven-step quality improvement, employee involvement, poka-yoke (in English, `mistake proofing´), and just-in-time. It is concluded that the changes have resulted in the best-ever quality, as evidenced by both internal quality assurance measurements and by direct feedback from customers. Intervals for both new product introduction and manufacturing have been dramatically reduced; 40% for new products and 50% for manufacturing. Shipping performance has improved 84%, with many focused factories routinely having 100% performance months