PowerLight Corporation Lean Manufacturing, PV Manufacturing R&D Phase I Report: 6 December 2001--31 March 2003

PowerLight Corporation (PowerLight) has completed Phase I of its PV Manufacturing R&D subcontract, 'PowerGuard Lean Manufacturing,' Subcontract No. NDO-1-30628-04. The overall technical goal of this project was to reduce the cost of PowerGuard manufacturing while simultaneously improving product quality. This will enable PowerLight to scale up production capacity as the market for PowerGuardcontinues to grow. Through the introduction of world-class lean manufacturing techniques, PowerLight was to cut out waste in the manufacturing process of PowerGuard. The manufacturing process was to be overhauled with an objective of removing as much as possible those steps that do not add value to the product. Quality of finished goods was also to be improved through the use of statisticalprocess control and error-proofing in the manufacturing process. Factory operations were also to be addressed to streamline those factory activities that support the manufacturing process. This report details the progress made toward the above listed goals during the first phase of this subcontract.