TWT manufacturing methods moving from development to production

Summary form only given. Gearing up correctly from the development of a TWT to production can help obtain a stronghold on the target market and set up that product for success. Method sheets, travel cards and statistical process control (SPC), when employed properly, lead the way. Method sheets illustrate exactly what technicians are to do, step by step, pictorially. This eliminates any guesswork in their part and any room for error. Travel cards are used as a tool for the production employee to record data that is directly linked into the SPC software. The collected data is then measured and analyzed. Any variation in processes is captured in real time. This enables us to monitor quality and keep processes consistent. Several divisions of CPI have been using method sheets for years. In the transition from development to production the millimeter wave group of CPI has begun to implement the use of method sheets, travel cards and SPC software. This paper explains the methods used at CPI, in particular the millimeter wave group, and the improvements we are making to produce for the future.