Event Coverage

An inside look at Nikon's DSLR production line

By Marcus Wong - 1 Dec 2014

An inside look at Nikon's DSLR production line

Rows of assembled D810s just waiting to be packaged and sent to the stores.

It’s not every day you get an opportunity to view first-hand how a digital camera is assembled, so when the opportunity arose to travel down to Nikon’s facilities in Ayutthaya, Thailand, we certainly jumped at the chance, and it was quite the eye-opener to say the least. I mean, how often do you get to see a high-performance piece of photographic equipment put together? Unfortunately, confidentiality considerations means we were not allowed to take any photographs while in the factory, but I’ll share the images Nikon has sent over and try to fill in the process as best as I can. (All images in this article are courtesy of Nikon.)

A simple display of the main components of a DSLR.

During our visit, we were first given a quick briefing before being ushered to a clean room where we had to don a factory smock, hairnet, and face mask before being led to the production lines, where the D810 and D750 bodies were being assembled.

Lenses are also assembled on the same floor.

Testing, testing and more testing.

The first thing that hits you when you’re on the factory floor is how many rows of production there are. Each camera runs through about 10-12 steps of assembly, cleaning and monitoring both by hand and by machine. The main components like the front body unit, pentaprism and sensor reach the line ready for assembly, but it’s not quite as simple as fitting all the pieces together and screwing the body shut.

Microscopes are used where extra precision is required.

 

Rather, every unit has to be precisely aligned, and even the amount of torque applied to the screws for particular units is digitally measured for absolute precision. It honestly was quite interesting to see how different units were tested – for example, the main mirrors are checked and tested for flaws using an electronic microscope, while the main CMOS sensor is checked for alignment by placing the entire body into a machine that uses what presumably is ultraviolet sensors to measure the sensor’s exact position.

After every camera body is fully assembled, a worker actually mounts a lens on the camera to test the basic functions like the various drive modes, and physically checks to ensure that everything is fit together well. After that is done, there’s a computerized system to check for the resolution of the sensor, the flash sync, and the focusing ability in movie mode, while the flash is fired off several times to ensure that it’s working properly.

The label is actually applied by hand as one of the final finishing touches.

The final product gets a lens mounted on for some final test shots.

Full assembly for a single camera takes about 100 minutes, and on a monthly basis the Auyuttha factory alone produces on average 500,000 units of DSLR and Nikkor lenses, with a max production of 700,000 units per month – impressive numbers when you consider the rounds of testing and evaluation each camera goes through.

We’re told the factory operates 24 hours a day, split between two teams, but to ensure that the workers stay fresh, Nikon has enforced a fifteen minute break every two hours. Perhaps because of the precision necessary for the assembly, a majority of the workers are female (we'd say probably at least 70%), and while Nikon states this certainly isn’t by design, they have noted that females have proven to be both adept and nimble in handiwork, which contributes to the meticulousness needed for the assembly process.

Apparently, new employees at the factory are trained with the basic skills to start, then moved on to specialized training for the particular stage of assembly at which they’ll be posted to. This specialized training takes two weeks, and occurs before the employee begins official duties. Additional training is conducted as necessary, and all employees get bi-annual training to further their abilities.

A rough breakdown of what gets produced where.

What’s interesting to note is that while Nikon Thailand initially started with DX-format DSLRs, the improvement in skill level by the staff saw them progressively move to managing the production of selected FX-format DSLRs. Now, a large portion of Nikon’s DSLRs are produced in Thailand, with just the “high-end” and “special” category models produced in Japan.

The planning of production is managed by Nikon headquarters (Japan) on a bi-weekly basis based on consolidation of market information so that they can adjust to match demand appropriately. While all the research and development is done in Japan, the key engineers from Thailand are sent up to Japan when new models are introduced, so that they can share whatever new techniques have been developed upon their return.

The Ayutthaya factory was hit by severe floods in 2011.

You may recall that this is the same factory that was hit by those floods back in 2011. Nikon says the water level went up to 2.8m deep, and stayed at that level for about 14 days, necessitating the use of joint efforts with Thailand’s army to recover important equipment before they were damaged beyond repair.

They started pumping water out of the factory in early November, and it took about a month to have the factory clear, by which time most of the damage had already been done. Production was moved to Japan in the meantime, with some 300 to 400 staff flown over to Nikon’s facilities there. Measures have since been taken to prevent a reoccurrence, like a new flood wall created some 800m away to protect the factory from water damage, and a new satellite factory built north of Ayutthaya on higher ground.

Knowing all that, and looking at some of the photographs shared, we must say it’s incredibly impressive that the factory has recovered as well as it has - there are virtually no signs of water damage anywhere!

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