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| An LG Electronics employee conducts a drop test on the V20 smartphone at the company's manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Courtesy of LG Electronics |
Company conducts 60,000 validation tests before mass production
By Lee Min-hyung
PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province ― LG Electronics' V20 smartphone is getting off to a good start, attracting growing attention for its unrivaled audio and camera functions. But the company expects its hardware stability to become another unique marketing point when it goes on sale in major overseas markets ― including the United States and Hong Kong ― later this month.
In an organized press tour of LG Digital Park here, the Korean technology company showed how smartphones are made ― from assembly to inspection. The facility is home to LG's research and development (R&D) and electronic devices production.
LG particularly highlighted the quality tests the 5.7-inch Android handset and any other smartphones undergo before mass production. Above all, the company said the V20 met 60,000 validation tests ― strict enough for the device to pass the military-standard transit drop test of the United States Department of Defense.
The firm's hardware validation section is on the third floor of the G2 production line, where all tablets, smartphones and wearable devices are tested to ensure top quality, the company said.
"We conduct various kinds of tests on all parts of the device, including the touch screen, before its mass production," Kim Kyun-heung, who is in charge of quality tests at the facility, said.
The company uses a steel bar for V20 drop tests. "We drop the device onto the steel bar, as the material is considered the hardest when conducting drop tests," Kim said.
The company constantly undertakes the one-meter drop test on the V20's edges and checks its consequences. The procedures are aimed at improving hardware stability and finding out any possible structural defects, according to the LG official.
Other hardware tests include a steel ball dropped onto the V20's display and a scenario test that checks whether the device can withstand a person's weight.
Assembly lines are on the fourth floor of the facility, whose daily smartphone production capacity is some 5,000. The V20 is using six production lines. LG Electronics said an average of 4,000 smartphones are being made there daily.
On a conveyor belt, an assembled V20 awaits final inspection. An automated assembly system, called a multi-function integrated test system, tests the device's user interfaces. The phone then moves on for a user function test where an LG Electronics employee checks the touch sensitivity manually.
Kim Seung-ryul, a smartphone assembly team head at LG Digital Park, said: "Robots or machines cannot replace the whole manufacturing process because such sensitivity tests should be performed by humans."
The device is then tested for how receptive it is to radio frequencies. In this process, the company tests whether the device is responding quickly enough to meet standards in a variety of wireless environments in areas such as basements. Automated machines also test whether the device responds fast enough for specific network services ― including international roaming.
The company installs mobile identification software when devices pass those tests. A packaged device is then weighed and inspected by them.
LG Digital Park
LG Digital Park was established in the southwestern Gyeonggi Province in 1984 when the company started to make radios. The facility grew in size and function, with more than 10,000 employees from the firm's key divisions ― including the MC and home entertainment and vehicle components sections. Digital Park has floor space of some 640,000 square meters.
LG Electronics said the facility has an annual mobile phone manufacturing capacity of some 39.6 million.
Globally, the company has smartphone-manufacturing plants in China, Vietnam and Brazil.
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