Printed Circuit Board Production
In the Comcrew; and happy to have his direction.munikay for April 1984 there was an article about the arrival of new Printed Circuit Board equipment. In the following Annual Report the new system was showcased for investors.
What has 54 legs and produces printed circuit boards? Answer: The 27 employees of KAYPRO's Printed Circuit Department. Don Rodmel, supervising these employees, has worked for our company for 17 years. He has become an expert in his field, leading one of the best-run and most efficient departments in the company. They are a happy crew; and happy to have his direction.
The department is located on level 1, at the northern end of the plant. It has been part of this company for as long as the company has existed. These folks are a crucial link in the chain of events leading to our finished product; as a matter of fact, they begin the entire production process. In addition to maufacturing most of the printed circuit boards for each of our computer models, all the test instruments' main boards are created by the P.C. (short for "printed circuit" not "personal computer") department.
A printed circuit is a path along which an electrical current passes. It is engraved or imprinted onto a copper surface through a complex process that results in a reliable electrical contact between two points.
The path is usually extremely thin in order to accommodate numerous contacts on a given P.C. board. Creating these boards requires very careful work and the P.C. department has always risen to the occasion.
Recently the department was given a lot of help through the purchase of five of the newest P.C. manufacturing machines made. Soon, rather than "importing" some of our boards from Excelarium Co. in Arizona (as we do now), these machines will produce all the boards we require. Some of the machines used in the production process are computerized; a process which includes drilling holes in the bare boards, cleaning the boards, laminating them, photographing the circuit pattern onto the board, developing and etching them.
Other new features in the department include the new room additions on the west side of the P.C. department. The rooms have a yellow plastic roof and yellow tinted windows. There's also a dust-free chamber between the photo printing room and the developing room to protect the boards from dust during their most crucial stage of production. One of the problems of the Printed Circuit department has been the fumes that travel across the schoolyard from time to time, prompting neighborhood complaints. The fumes come from the cupric oxide acid, which is non toxic, and used in one of the production processes. When asked if the fumes from the acid tanks bother him or his workers, Don Rodmel replied: "I estimate that my department has less 'out sick' time mounted up than any other department in the company."
When the new etching machine is installed shortly, the new printed circuit production system will be operating at full speed. Perhaps someday, KAYPRO will list this department as a independent division that supplies other companies, as well as KAYPRO, with P.C. boards for profit.
Thanks for doing such a good job, P.C. department, and keep up the good work.
(CommuniKay, April 1984)