southern california Archives - Page 12 of 12

How an Integrated Management System Can Help Your Business

May 5, 2017 By meiadmin

How an Integrated Management System Can Help Your Business

There are many benefits to an integrated management system. The greatest benefits include increased efficiency and the reduction of costs and disruptions caused by external audits. An IMS shows that an organization has an unwavering commitment to employee and customer satisfaction as well as continuous improvement.

What is an Integrated Management System?

An integrated management system (IMS) is a single system specially designed to manage multiple aspects of an organization’s operations. Integrated management can benefit any organization, regardless of their size or sector. An IMS makes it possible to integrate two or more management systems into one cohesive system with a complete set of documentation, policies, procedures and processes.

How an IMS Improves Efficiency

Many businesses run multiple systems to manage different aspects of their business such as health and safety, environment, quality and HR. An IMS enables the integration of organizational structures, decision-making, resource allocation and auditing processes into one robust system.

An IMS significantly improves the process and service quality of a company, leading to increased efficiency within the system.

Integrated systems provide a clear picture of all aspects of an organization including how they affect each other and all associated risks. This results in less duplication and easier adoption of new systems in the future.

Seamless Integration of Management Systems

Companies can choose between conversion and consolidation when integrating management systems. Conversion involves adding new processes to an existing management system and revising documents to cover all management system requirements. Consolidation involves merging two systems and integrating other systems during formalization. This method allows organizations to merge documentation when it supports the same process.

Any combination of management systems can be integrated. Means Engineering, Inc. integrates our Quality Management System (certified to ISO 9001, AS9100, and ISO 13485), our Environmental Management System (certified to ISO 14001) and our other business processes (including Health and Safety, Information Security, Business Continuity, and Ethics). With one efficient system, we are able to better meet the needs of our customers.

10 Best Cleanroom Practices

April 28, 2017 By meiadmin

10 Best Cleanroom Practices

Many products manufactured today are extremely sensitive to dust, vapors and other airborne particles. The production of these products requires a clean environment and clean manufacturing operations. This is especially true for products produced by semi-conductor and bio-pharmaceutical companies. A cleanroom is a controlled environment that is specially designed to reduce contamination.

Avoiding Contamination in Cleanrooms

Cleanrooms must be kept clean and free from all types of contamination. Increasing cleanliness, minimizing contamination and keeping equipment running smoothly requires the use of materials, tools and processes that will not affect the cleanliness of the finished product.

Cleanrooms and clean manufacturing requires a solid commitment from staff. Cleanrooms that are properly maintained allow for cleaner products and manufacturing facilities, increased potential for new markets and the opportunity to present the production facility as a selling point to customers.

Top 10 Cleanroom Maintenance Practices

Keep tools and test equipment inside the cleanroom. Having to clean tools before bringing them inside the cleanroom not only wastes time, it also increases the likelihood of contamination.
Staff should be fully trained on cleanroom protocol. Staff should understand how even a quick visit to the cleanroom without the proper attire can release millions of particles, requiring immediate cleaning and potentially downgrading cleanroom classification.
Keep a supply of vinyl gloves inside the cleanroom. Over time, workers can develop latex allergies. If worker’s hands become red or develop a rash after removing latex gloves, they will need to use vinyl gloves instead.
Adjust practices to allow for seasonal changes. During the spring and fall, filters should be changed more frequently to offset increased outdoor particle counts.
Enforce routine preventative maintenance. Every few hours, workers should check their workstation with a surface particle counter. If particle counts are high, all surface areas should be wiped down and the particulate source located.
Changes to the facility or equipment should not affect the finished product.
Clean manufacturing must be a plant-wide commitment.
Vendors should always follow proper cleanroom procedures.
All equipment used in cleanrooms should require little to no maintenance.
Cleanroom maintenance should be everyone’s responsibility. Every worker should know how to properly clean work areas.

Means Engineering, Inc. offers cleanroom facilities for a variety of industries. Please contact us for more information.

Reducing the Costs of PCB Design

April 21, 2017 By meiadmin

Reducing the Costs of PCB Design

The quality of your Printed Circuit Board matters to the overall success of your project. However, high quality design can be costly. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to keep costs low without sacrificing the quality of your PCB design.

Use Premade Design Specifications

When designing PC Boards, it’s important to think through the entire process to determine how much time, effort and money your design will take to manufacture. If you find a problem with your PCB design, you can look to see if anyone else has come across the same issue and figure out how they solved it. This can save a considerable amount of time and money over having to start again from scratch. Another benefit of using premade design specifications is that they can be automated in assembly instead of being placed and soldered by hand, which can cost quite a bit more.

Panelize

Panelization places multiple PCBs on a single panel, allowing for bulk manufacturing and quicker processing. Panelization also ensures that boards are secured throughout manufacturing, shipping and assembly. Since PCBs are generally priced per panel, you can save a lot of money by fabricating multiples on a single panel.

Get an Outside Opinion

Having someone else take a look at your project can help you catch errors that you might have missed. There’s nothing more costly or time-consuming than discovering a problem too late. Get an outside opinion from someone that you trust that isn’t part of your team.

Use the Same Company for Prototyping and Production

It’s a smart idea to use the same assembly house for both your prototyping and production of your PC Boards. Doing so makes it possible to begin mass production as soon as possible.

The material costs for PCBs are fairly low. Most of the assembly costs come from the time it takes to figure out how to assemble a brand new PCB. If your assembly house has already put together your prototype, they will be comfortable with its assembly, saving you time and money.

Get Your Manufacturer Involved in the Design Process

Your manufacturer can provide you with valuable insight for your PCB design. When involved in the process, they can make suggestions for solving issues and point out problems that you might have missed.

Means Engineering, Inc. can help you with PCB design, prototyping and assembly. We work directly with our clients, from concept to completion. Please contact us for details.

The Right Electronics Manufacturer Could Mean the Difference Between Ordinary and Extraordinary

April 14, 2017 By meiadmin

The Right Electronics Manufacturer Could Mean the Difference Between Ordinary and Extraordinary

There are many factors to consider when choosing an electronics manufacturer. Key features can mean the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. A little knowledge can go a long way towards finding a manufacturing company that best suits your business’ individual needs.

Choosing the Right Electronics Manufacturing Company

Not all electronics manufacturers are created equal. Finding the company that best suits your business requires a practical approach. To find the right fit you will need to take a few things into consideration such as the size of the company in relation to yours, the complexity of the products they produce, the volumes they build and the types of accounts they work with.

Your chosen company should be one that has a well-managed supply chain, the proper equipment and experience to build, configure and test your products, and the capabilities to work with you to deliver what you want, exactly when and how you want it.

Quality Control

Perhaps the most important thing to consider when choosing a manufacturing company is the quality control procedures the company has in place. The company should be able to communicate issues before and during the manufacturing process. This can save your company a considerable amount of time and money.

Customer Service

Equally important to quality control is the relationship that you have with the manufacturer. This should be someone that you feel comfortable leaving your project with. You will also want to figure out who your point of contact will be at the manufacturing company. This is the person you will be expressing your company’s needs and concerns to.

Communication is extremely important during the manufacturing process. Make sure that you can freely communicate with the company that you are working with. Companies located in the U.S. are easier to communicate with than companies based overseas.

High Quality Electronics Manufacturing in Southern California

Means Engineering Inc. provides electronics manufacturing services for a variety of industries. We work directly with our clients to create solutions to a number of problems. Our team strives to provide clear communication and top quality customer service.

Please contact us to find out how we can help your business with its electronics manufacturing needs.