OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.55 2002-10
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A
cute microscope with fuzzy lens adjustment.
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----At what stage did production staff at the factory become involved?
Much of the design had already been decided,
and I had not been briefed in detail about the design process.
Factory staff think of microscopes as very mechanical-looking devices,
so we were very surprised and wondered what on earth it was when
we first saw the shape of the MIC-D.
The MIC-D is produced at a new plant on Cebu Island in the Philippines. It is
assembled by women in their late teens up to about 20 years of age. When we showed
the women what they would be assembling, they all said it was "cute."
We were very happy to hear that.
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MIC-D Internal Hardware Diagram
(click on image to expand it) |
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They knew immediately that this was totally
different from conventional microscopes. Workers actually requested
to be assigned to the MIC-D assembly line. The image in our mind
was different from the way these young women saw the product, but
that was fine.
The Cebu Plant also assembles the CX Series and body tubes for those products.
Object lenses and other parts are made at another plant.
The MIC-D's shape is something totally different.
We were worried that this might cause problems at the production
stage. However, the MIC-D was not rejected as impossible.
There are some very difficult parts, but we
did not compromise the basic design.
All of the people who were involved at each
stage gradually began to like the MIC-D, and that motivated them
to work harder.
----What is the percentage of the parts made in the Philippines?
Almost all of them. Some parts, such as CMOS
boards, cannot be sourced in the Philippines, but over 80 percent
of the parts are made there.
We were aware that the MIC-D was intended for children, but we also knew that
we had to protect the image of Olympus brand microscopes. At the same time, we
had to curtail production costs. Many of the parts are simple, but the MIC-D
also has some quite "fuzzy" parts for a digital microscope. This made
the MIC-D a difficult product from the viewpoint of people working on the production
line.
----What do you mean "by fuzzy"
parts?
For example, the zoom lens and object lens
are designed to move and get into position by gravity, and there
are no support springs to pull them by force.
The zoom mechanism moves in grooves. Normally,
the mechanism would be held down by springs to prevent any play
within the grooves. The MIC-D is different.
The mechanism must move smoothly without catching,
and the lens must move without any play. The question for us was
how far to go in perfecting these aspects.
Though the specifications are not especially
high, the MIC-D functions as a real microscope. |
