Microstat, Inc. Case Patrick Mckinsey

Microstat, Inc. Case

Patrick McKinsey founded Microstat to work on marketing Notebook computers that he designed during his senior engineering project. To give his project commercial fruition, following some initial efforts he zeroed in on Leesung Electronics with whom he collaborated for manufacturing the most innovatively designed Notebook Computer. Patrick's point of differentiation was to include the state-of-the-art technology and to make the computer highly feature rich. Coinciding with his age of 25 years, he launched the 2500 series. Even though his Notebook had a premium price, his first venture saw a huge commercial success, and he was inundated with orders. He owed much of the success due to favorable reviews that the computer magazines carried in its issues. Sensing that his journey of success has just began; he devoted his time towards working on the next computer series i.e. The 2700 series.

With the growth of business volume, he looked at every possible aspect of the business. The first year saw Microstat reaching a milestone of 100 computers per day. Patrick's second model was also an overwhelming success that prompted him to work on the third model in a row i.e. The 2900 series which would feature a nascent cursor technology- touchpad technology. Patrick was very keen to incorporate the touchpad as he thought he would be left behind by the competition in case he launched the same technology after two years. The company encountered added pressure of redesigning a substantial portion of the computer and would take four-month to design and just two months to complete production. This was a significant departure from other companies who did a design makeover gradually whereas in case of Microstat they made their new launch with a new product line. The 2900 series was launched featuring the touchpad but at the cost of delay of the project by 3.5 months and this affected manufacturing since it was completed in half the normal time by working extra hours in every shift and the new production line was made operational within the remaining 2.5 months.

This pressure of completion of the product in minimum time was responsible for a fault due to which a large number of computers came in for repairs. Patrick engaged the services of Amanda Jordan as the new Director of Quality Control who began the investigation with the team leader in rework area, Michael Scott. The problem was detected in a missing resistor that was responsible for lack of sufficient time to ramp-up production. Because of the missing resistor, on one of the Printed Circuit Boards, -- PCBs oil cracked casing where the display fixes to the base. The plastic material was responsible for the cracking as it failed to bear the pressure of the hinges on the base each time of opening and shutting the lid of the computer. Finally, because of lack of availability of adequate time and the consequential rush to meet deadlines, prototyping and testing was not done. It was contended that if there was sufficient time to test the computer, there would have been increased likelihood of locating the fault and fixed the same.

2. Problem cited in the case:

The problem in the case study was that in a rush to incorporate a new feature of touchpad technology in its Notebook computer to stay ahead of its times, the production was geared up, pushing it to the brink and completing it. Although the production was completed, a fault was detected in a missing resistor in one of the PCBs oil cracked casing where the display attaches to the base. The crack was due to compromised quality of plastic material used. It was unable to bear the pressure of the hinges on the base every time of opening and closing the lid of the computer. It is seen that in a rush to complete production, prototyping and testing took a backseat and the sole objective lay in completion of a new design feature to stay ahead of the competition.

3. Case Analysis:

Inspired by its early success of manufacturing Notebook computer, Microstat went on to manufacture yet another series- the 2900 series which was to have touchpad technology that was still nascent as far as contemporary technology is concerned. Patrick, Microstat's founder hit upon this idea that in case he fails to include the new touchpad technology, it would put the company two years behind competition as far as staying ahead of competition was concerned. This would make a severe beating on the market standing of Microstat and erode its positioning in the minds of its customer. Microstat took up the challenge and went ahead with the production. These involved overhauling the design of a major portion of computer and devote about four months to the design time, lending production just two months to ramp-up. The company encountered added pressure as majority of the other Notebook computers modified their designs gradually every six to nine months while Microstat modified its design only in coincidence with the launch of the new product line. Finally, the 2900 was redesigned to include the touchpad which took three and half months for which manufacturing was given less than 50% of the time normally devoted for ramping-up production. Because of tight deadlines, the new production line became functional within the remaining two and half months. This resulted in a problem of a missing resistor on one of the PCBs oil cracked casings at the point where the display fixes to the base. The cause of the cracks was reportedly due to mediocre quality of the materials. Due to lack of time in meeting strict deadlines and complete absence of prototyping, the problem arose.

4. Solutions recommended:

It is a fact that Notebook users face five main problems which are "battery degradation, adapter failure, memory upgrades, component failure and absence of appropriate accessories." (NoteBook Glitches and fixes, 2003) Recharge cycles is responsible for battery life and thus the overall life of the Notebook. Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries possess a short life cycle and are less costly but tend to memory effects. They have to normally be fully drained and then fully recharged for maximum performance and life. (NoteBook Glitches and fixes, 2003) the next problem lies in the resistor. This pertains to understand regarding what is to be expected when using a resistor available from a bin involving standard resistors and make use of them in a series which also has parallel level of combinations. Resistors in series must have an equal combination which has a resistance which sums up all the values with regard to the resistors in a level of series. The theoretical claim has to be checked and one can get some amount of practice of wiring the series characteristics. Some of the goals of the problems are (i) Given that one needs to predict the equal value with an amount of confidence (ii) One is able to bring out the physical relation in an amount of series prevailing on a circuit board. In order to connect two resistors in series, one has to use two resistors in a circuit board. It has to be noticed that the matter in common to the two resistors i.e. The node with regard to which both of them are connected is being done through connection to a category of five points in a single row. One has to assure that one understands the correspondence which evolves among the circuit diagram as well as the real circuit. (Experiments with Resistors, n. d.) Another problem in Notebook Computer lies in power jack and/or AC DC jack connector or plug which is being burned or broken or being loosened which is the most normal problem for majority of the computers. At times this problem lies not just changing the jack, as there might be short or burnt circuit problem which one need to attend to first of all before replacing the jack. (Day Power DC Jack Repair, 2007) it is a fact that measurement of any physical quantity is not over till the experimenter stipulates the uncertainties in carrying out the experiment. Such error analysis is important to render the experimental results proper meaning, such that they can be compared with theoretical predictions or associated calibrations. (Introductory Measurement procedures and Error Analysis, 2007)