Van der Lande smoothes the flow

When Packard Bell designed their new assembly center in Angers, France, they did not want to stock any finished PCs. The key to achieving this came from Van der Lande, the Dutch materials handling equipment specialist. PC manufacture and testing can be complex. It involves a large number of hardware and software components, the specific choice of parts depending on the customers specification. After assembly, the relevant operating and application software is installed and tested for reliability. If a computer is found not to comply fully with the high quality standards, it is automatically transported to the rectification station. After repair the products are reintroduced to the production process. In this way, potential loss of material as well as time is reduced to a minimum. Finally, manuals and documentation are added, after which the product is packed and dispatched. Throughout the assembly system, tracking and tracing technology allows any part of the product to be monitored and steered through the entire production process. This allows any configuration to be produced in any order. All instructions required by each worker in the assembly system are presented on computer terminals which allow operators to view all assembly data and monitor test results as they happen.

Questions

1. How would you classify this manufacturing process? 2. Where does it lie on the diagonal of the ProductProcess matrix?