I was in my 40’s when I made the decision to expose myself to the Manufacturing Industry and Sales. My observations led me to understand what later was the Four M’s of Production:
In a nutshell, they are:
Material – No defects and keep them coming
Machine – Regular maintenance, quality parts and Backups.
Man – Working attitudes, Sufficient knowledge or training, punctual and, no last minute leaves
Method – SOPs, Manuals, Regular Maintenance
WHAT HAS IT GOT TO DO WITH ME?
I have learned a lot from this environment and there is no excuse that I have forgotten. Unless, I am reckless or I did not absorb the information while I was there. And so, yes, I was reckless this time. And the consequences are huge if I was in a manufacturing environment. I have lost time and money as it takes 60 days to get new parts to arrive and then another 2 weeks to see the results. All because I took for granted on this simple SMD PCB connector.
I have ordered this part quite some time ago and at the same time, I created the component footprint for the EaglePCB software. What I did not realise is that the dimensions of the ordered part is NOT the same in the CAD system. This even got through when I was checking on the circuit many times. So, when the PCB arrived, my eyes immediately saw the mistake and I was quite annoyed. I can consider myself lucky as the board still works except that it cannot accept future designs and I would have to hot-wire them.
So, yes, I should have made a physical checklist.
NEW PCB REVISION
So, I am going to create a revised design of the board with the original connectors. This time I know I am on track after printing the mock-up. And I have to be very careful on its orientation as it needs to accept a piggyback board. Plus, I have made some other adjustments such as enlarging the soldering pads for hand soldering. Some of the components were designed for reflow soldering which is why their solder pads smaller and under the component.
