Repairing a digital camera is very time consuming if done the way the
manufacturer intended. And this would be the way Olympus factory
service used to do it. A shop that is paid by the piece may install a
new main circuit and "initialize" it with the most basic default
step-one firmware. This will not address focus settings, exposure,
white balance etc., the camera "works" and the customer may never know
and the "tech" can put the repair on his work sheet and get paid for it.
Something really stinks about this.
___________________________________
John Hermanson | CPS, Inc.
21 South Ln., Huntington NY 11743
www.zuiko.com | omtech1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Olympus OM Service since 1977
On 5/6/2013 3:48 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 4/28/2013 8:18 AM, John Hermanson wrote:
>> Your extended warranty repair would be handled by a non-olympus
>> repair shop in Texas and most likely farmed out to a low wage shop
>> in Mexico. The days of getting Olympus factory service are over.
>
> I'm mildly curious about what may be happening.
>
> It has been, or used to be, true that some electronics manufacturers
> had a repair model that involved only replacing modules, no detail
> repair work at the consumer warranty end. Defective modules deemed
> repairable were stockpiled and sent from all over the world to a
> single repair station in a low wage country.
>
> Actual repairs to modules were done on an as needed basis, to keep
> the replacement module stock pipeline full. As warranties expire and
> demand for replacement modules declines, little or no labor cost is
> wasted.
>
> It's actually a pretty good model for quick repair turnaround and
> minimizing cost. Specific, limited training in module replacement
> does not require otherwise highly trained generalist technicians. A
> few, more highly trained techs, with specialized test and repair
> equipment in one location, are again more efficient than generalists
> all over the world.
>
> Perhaps not applicable to at least some high cost, low volume, high
> end cameras, with more complex design, nor, as you know, to complex
> lenses, but good for much low to middle tier, high volume stuff.
>
> Unfortunate for highly trained and experienced people like you, but
> not necessarily bad for the consumer.
>
> I'm pretty sure that's how my first, and so far, only, digital camera
> repair was handled. One of a couple of complex plastic parts that
> held the lens elements and accomplished zoom and focus simply snapped
> under high G force. I couldn't fix it, but could see how the entire
> assembly could easily be taken out and replaced in a few minutes,
> whereas replacing the individual, broken part, relocating the lens
> elements, etc., would take MUCH longer, probably require focus
> testing and risk reversing an element, misalignment, etc.
>
> The speed of repair turnaround suggested either such a repair or that
> the repair center was not at all busy.
>
> Another possibility is the use of highly trained techs from China, SE
> Asia, India, any low wage country, working in low cost facilities in
> Juarez. I know Mexico used to have a program to let parts for
> assembly and finished goods in and out without customs hassle in
> special manufacturing zones. These zones were, from a customs
> standpoint, part of the US.
>
> A combination of the two methods might work well for a whole line of
> consumer through pro cameras, module replacement tried first, where
> applicable, then either replacement or repair.
>
> I have no idea what Oly may be doing. You may well be right that they
> are pawning off repair work on poorly trained techs just across the
> border or coming across as day labor. I just thought I'd mention
> another possibilities of which I am aware.
>
> BTW, my first OM repair, on my first Oly, an OM-1, for a mirror that
> didn't return, was done in Mexico City, by Japanese techs in what
> looked more like a NASA clean room than a typical camera repair shop.
> Complex job done overnight for very little money. Obviously done
> right, as it functioned properly for many more years.
>
> Curious R. Moose
>
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