D2 Channal Bank: Manufacturing and Testing

Manufacturing of the D2 Channel Bank takes place at Merrimack Valley and Kearny Works of the Western Electric Company. The introduction of any new system by Western Electric involves considerable effort by many locations within the system. This article wall concentrate on those activities at Merrimack Valley which are directly associated with the manufacture of circuit packs and bays for the D2 Channel Bank. Manufacturing development for the D2 Channel Bank began in 1965, and ended with the first shipments late in 1969. Major activities during this period were (i) early development (ii) construction of field trial units {Hi) production planning (iv) test planning and (v) initial production. The project is presently on a continuing production basis. 1.1 Early Development For those concerned with development to manufacture the D2 Channel Bank, the first stage was to become familiar with the details of the product and to make preliminary production plans. One of the first steps in this operation was to establish an estimated cost. This 1743