Now after looking at today's title and picture you're probably wondering what I've been up to?
Well, today was the highlight of my trip to Hong Kong and made the trip really special. Thanks to the great people at Ricoh I could visit the factory where all these fantastic cameras are produced.
We left HK in the morning and took the ferry to China where after a short drive we got to the factory. I got to meet some of the people working there and got an introduction about the factory. After this we started the tour and I got to see how the GRD II lens gets assembled and how the GX200 gets built. This was a fantastic experience and I will write more about it when I am back on my Wordpress blog.
For now, let me say that the cameras are indeed all assembled by hand and can go through 120 people before they are ready. Then they are tested by computers and people in the QC team. Every measure is taken to avoid any problems with the assembly or dust getting into the lens from the factory. The manufacturing process is also constantly reviewed and refined.
I will write a full report as soon as I am back so there will be more details coming.
Let me finish by thanking all the people at Ricoh for making this possible, this is more than I ever expected.
Well, today was the highlight of my trip to Hong Kong and made the trip really special. Thanks to the great people at Ricoh I could visit the factory where all these fantastic cameras are produced.
We left HK in the morning and took the ferry to China where after a short drive we got to the factory. I got to meet some of the people working there and got an introduction about the factory. After this we started the tour and I got to see how the GRD II lens gets assembled and how the GX200 gets built. This was a fantastic experience and I will write more about it when I am back on my Wordpress blog.
For now, let me say that the cameras are indeed all assembled by hand and can go through 120 people before they are ready. Then they are tested by computers and people in the QC team. Every measure is taken to avoid any problems with the assembly or dust getting into the lens from the factory. The manufacturing process is also constantly reviewed and refined.
I will write a full report as soon as I am back so there will be more details coming.
Let me finish by thanking all the people at Ricoh for making this possible, this is more than I ever expected.
What a rare experience! I don't know if any QC improvements has been made since the release of GRDI which is infamous for its quality problems like dead/hot CCD pixels and dust on CCD or between the lens elements. GRDII and GX200 seem to turn out fine though.
ReplyDelete"Made in China" is still not a good label. I've mentioned to you some Ricoh cameras are without such labels. I still wonder why.
Mike, it is a fantastic experience.
ReplyDeleteThere have been quite a few QC improvements done and also improvements in the build process to avoid any issues coming from the factory.
Can you send me an email with the serial number from your GRD and I will ask Ricoh from which batch it was.
This must have been a great experience. I am looking forward to read more about your visit to the factory.
ReplyDeleteVisiting Ricoh factory!!! Great experience that all of Ricoh lover wish to have in one life time. Looking forward to read your really interesting journal there!!!
ReplyDeleteBest wish,
Bhuminan, P.
Glad you had the opportunity of a visit- Ricoh certainly do customer relations in Spades.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, it was indeed a fantastic experience and and opportunity you don't get every day and especially not from any other manufacturer.
ReplyDelete