How LAVA Does Product Testing and Reduces Waste

No one wants a defective product. Not a manufacturer or their customer. At LAVA, our average failure rate is well below 1% — a stat we are very proud of. This is a combination of our manufacturing team’s experience and the rigorous testing we put our products through once they are manufactured.

To ensure the quality of our products, we design and manufacture everything in-house. We mostly use Canadian suppliers, which leads to better supply chain management. Our printed circuit boards (PCBs) come from S&P Flex Inc.’s factory in Markham, Ont., just a few kilometers from LAVA’s location.

As per industry standards, S&P Flex tests the boards before shipping them to us, ensuring another layer of superb quality control. This also allows us to rest assured our parts are top-tier and are made in an environment that we’d want to work in ourselves.

Testing the boards

Once we receive the PCBs, we solder on the components. When production is finished, we individually test the boards to make sure everything is working properly. Usually, with a statistical sample test system, the end customer still gets a failed unit 1-2% of the time. However, by testing every board, we stop those defective units from ever reaching the customer. We always attempt to fix the few defective units we come across, which further reduces the waste we produce.

In fact, due to the efficiency of our manufacturing staff, who have several decades of experience between them, we are proud to note past production runs where there was no need to discard any products – zero unnecessary waste!

Testing for compatibility

In addition to testing the products, we also test compatibility between our SimulCharge adapters and the tablets and smartphones our customers are planning to use.

All of our adapter lines have lists of mobile devices that our engineers have personally tested and determined work properly with the products. We even offer free device compatibility testing if the potential customer has a tablet or smartphone we haven’t tested yet.

JIT and batch production

For better efficiency, we also use a mixture of Just in Time (JIT) and batch production. With JIT, we build the products as needed (i.e., when orders come in) while in batch production, we build the products in groups (or batches).

Batch production stands in contrast to the popular continuous production method, where each unit goes through the entire production process, independent of other units, in a rigid order – assembly-line style. Usually running on a smaller scale than continuous production, batch production allows for greater efficiency through each manufacturing stage. It also reduces expenses and the risk of defective units further down the line. Batch and JIT allow us to have off-the-shelf products in stock but avoids us from having overstock. As a result, we face less waste in the long run.

We stand by our products

LAVA stands by the quality of our products and the warranty that covers them. On the off chance a LAVA product doesn’t work as advertised – give our team a shout and we will work with you to find a solution.

To learn more about LAVA’s products, check out our website or contact our sales department via email (sales@lavalink.com) or by phone (461-674-5942).

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