Miniline: Research Applied to Manufacturing

A "miniline" concept for solving technical problems on manufacturing lines has been successfully used on several different products. Key to this success is using fundamental science with the most advanced methods of characterization possible to analyze pieces of real product processes. Industry or university scientists simulate the production process closely by using sophisticated analytical tools appropriately · instrumented. This results in fundamental understanding of the sequence of events occurring in each process step in the production line. Understanding leads to better definition of process windows and better control of the process. Parts may be Processed on the production line or on the laboratory equipment for direct comparison of particular production steps. Teamwork among researchers and an interdisciplinary group of development and manufacturing engineers is a key ingredient to success.