Factory

First things first, before even thinking about getting in or out of the factory you have to go through security and a metal detector. This is similar to what we have seen in other factory’s, but a step above what we have seen at boutique builders. This was my second clue that Systemax isn't a boutique builder; the first clue was the size of the factor itself.  Once in, I found that the factory is split up into a few building areas, each fully capable of running an entire production line of different PC’s at the same time. Because of that some of my photos are going to look a little redundant.

I first want to point out that everything about the factory is top notch and designed specifically to try to prevent static discharge as well as damage to any of the equipment. That means everything is temperature controlled and as you can see, even the mats that each person works on are grounded out.

Each product line has a roller assembly line where things can be pushed down to the next person. We got into the factory fairly late in the day meaning most of the production had already moved from building to installing and testing. But I did still get an idea of how their production goes. First every build starts out with a tray designed to roll on the lines correctly. Where I found these to be especially interesting is how they are designed to hold all of the parts needed for the build and then later they will hold the build as well. Each tray has spots on the right side for any of the systems hard drives to be secured as well.

The trays are filled on a roller line that goes past a wall of hard drives, cpu’s, ram, and anything else you might need to build their PCs. The tray along with a printed list of the PC included all of the parts moves along being filled up and ready to go.

There is another variation on this that also uses a much simpler tray design. When building their pre-built systems. All of the parts are still on pallets right next to the production line and each system is built in that way. There isn’t a need for the picking system of the other lines simply because every system is going to be the same in these production runs.

Unlike most other manufactures, every single PC that comes through the Systemax production line is run through a full burn in. This reminds me a lot of how Kingston’s factory was handled. Both companies spoke about how it is much cheaper to spend the extra time and money now to make sure everything works rather than spend all of the money later in shipping, replacement parts, tech support man hours, and most importantly the customers time. Because of this every production line has whole sections dedicated to burning in and setting up the machines they build.

One other area that I had a chance to take a look at was their RMA area. Anytime a PC comes requiring repair they bring it in and test and confirm what part is bad. If it is a pre-built system they will typically have another ready to send right out to the customer. From there they take the good parts out of the systems and store them in a fenced in area to build other refurbished systems. These parts are kept in this specific area to prevent any of them from slipping into regular production, it’s a small touch but it is nice to see that they have considered this possibility. As you can see, the RMA area was really quiet while I was there, the only system sitting around was actually the build that Systemax used at Quakecon.

Here are a few other pictures from around the factory that I thought everyone would find interesting.