Western Electric Reading Works

1 Pictured above is 'Western Electric's Reading Works located in beautiful Berks County, Pennsylvania Reading Works The Reading Works is a high Through AT&T Interna- hind Reading's continued growth. technology plant dedicated to tional and our Government Sales Most recently, our office the production of electronic Group, WE also provides building has helped meet the components for telecommunica- telecommunications equipment need for additional manufactur- tions equipment. We are one of and services to other nations ing space since it now accom- 22 manufacturing locations and the Federal Government. modates offices previously lo- within Western Electric, a Locally, the Western Electric cated in the manufacturing wholly owned subsidiary of the Reading Works depends on building. This 210,000 square- American Telephone and Tele- Berks County for its dedicated foot building, completed in 1982, graph Co., Inc. employees as well as essential houses engineers, other profes- Products manufactured by goods and services. One of the sionals and clerical and ad- Western Electric range from the area's largest employers, WE is ministrative personnel and behind the scenes components a major contributor to the health brings our total floor space to such as the integrated circuits of Berks County's economy. more than one million square made at Reading to the tele- Through our employees feet. Our 133 acres of rolling phones we use everyday. West- purchases, as well as those of hills is an ideal site for this new ern exercises careful control of the company, millions of dollars building and the many man- the involved processes that in business are poured into the ufacturing and support facilities bring products from the basic community each year. surrounding it. research stage in Bell In our own business, diver- Berks County provides a Laboratories, through produc- sity, leading edge technology, good home for Western Elec- tion in our factories, and finally and increased product demand tric's Reading Works and the to our ultimate customers. have been the driving forces be- people who work here. 1 2 utilizes electronic components manufactured here at Reading. A Changing World Like the electronics industry itself, the Reading Works has had a dynamic history. Today, as The history of the Reading dale was selected. During its in the past, Reading works Works closely parallels the his- first ten years in Berks County, closely with Bell Laboratories to tory of modern electronics. We the Laureldale plant, housed in bring new devices through the began our operations in Berks six converted old knitting mills, development stage into full County in 1952, just five years was dedicated to this Govern- manufacturing. Very often after the invention of the tran- ment business. product lines are moved to sistor by Bell Laboratories. The With increased demand for another location so that Read- Reading location, conceived as a semiconductor devices within ing can tackle new challenges. Therefore, Reading's history has leading-edge technology facility. the Bell System, we were af- been an evolutionary one. In the has maintained that position and forded our first opportunity to l960 's we continued making earned the reputation as a supply devices to the System in transistors and diodes and pioneer in the field. 1962. Our Laureldale location added traveling wave tubes. By Our first mission was to no longer met the demand for the 1970's diodes were still manufacture semiconductor de- increased production and a new highest in volume; but linear vices for the United States Gov- Reading plant was constructed integrated circuits had been in- ernment. The Government in Muhlenherg Township. Since troduced and were becoming an needed a reliable source of high then, we have been supplying increasingly important product quality devices for use by the devices of the highest reliability line. Adding to Reading's diver- Military and the space effort. and technical sophistication for sity, we began the manufacture Berks County, known for the use in the Bell System's net- of optoelectronics , microwave strong work ethic if its people, work. In fact, almost every new devices, until magnetic bubble proved to be a perfect location communications system being memories; and to accommodate and our original site in Laurel- introduced by the Bell System newer technologies. older products were transferred to other locations, In the early 1980's, with the transfer of our diode lines to Kansas City, linear integrated circuits became our largest product line. New products such as gated diode crosspoint (GDX) integrated circuits and lightwave devices, have been introduced and continue to gain prominence . Optoelectronics, microwave devices, and bubble memory devices are expected to remain in production at Read- ing throughout the 8O's. All of these products will he band in advanced telecommunications services such as transmission, lightwave, electronic switching. and telephone systems. Modern cleanrooms (far felt) provide an environment as clean as a hospital operating room, quite a contrast from the manufacturing facilities first used in Laureldale (left), 3 Engineering Few industries have changed as radically and as rapidly as the electronics industry. In fact, the technology practiced today draws upon specialties that simply did not exist when manufacturing began at Reading. Diffusion technology, ion im- plantation, thermocompression bonding, thick film technology, epitaxial layering, beam lead interconnection, and laser etch- ing are just some of the processes that have challenged the ability of our engineering staff in this new age of electronics. To meet this challenge, our engineers must he drawn from many different disciplines in- cluding electrical, chemical, 100 years history. Reading price, it is imperative that we mechanical, and industrial en- Works employees have been continue to find ways to reduce gineering: materials science and granted almost 200 patents and our manufacturing costs. metallurgy; and computer en- continually have a number of Very often in engineering, gineering and science. patents pending approval. This variety of engineering innovation and improvement are expertise is the crucial element Advancing technology and the main job functions. Such in the ever-changing environ- engineering expertise support innovation and improvement is ment of electronic components. our Product Planning and Man- recognized by our Cost Reduc- It has been the force behind the agement (PLPM) Organization. tion Program. The most signifi- constant improvement and Engineers and managers work- cant contribution to the Cost miniaturization of our products. ing in PLPM are responsible for Reduction Program is the en- The functions of the traveling developing business and mar- gineering effort to eliminate wave tubes, diodes, and transis- keting strategies that consider process steps, reduce the labor tors that are Reading's history the impact each Product Family effort required, and increase are still important today, but has in satisfying Bell System yields in established products as now these functions are per- needs and achieving product well as reduce new product costs. formed on the surface of inte- line objectives. These strategies grated circuit chips-sometimes help to formulate a plan to bet- Another important segment smaller than the head of a pin. ter utilize product line strengths of the program is Adniinistra- Thanks to sophisticated and resources. They also form a tive Cost Reduction. This effort, manufacturing, just a few chips basis for establishing an inter- which can reduce paperwork, are able to handle the workings relationship with manufactur- labor, and duplication, affects of an entire telephone. And, we ing, sales management, serv- the cost of our product through are rapidly approaching the day the dollars saved in exactly the when all these functions will be ices, and development. PLPM's support aids Western Electric same way as in Engineering handled by only one chip. Cost Reduction cases. The major role that Western management in better meeting Electric engineers have played customer needs and ensuring This program has and con- in the advancement of the in- the financial health of the prod- tinues to save the Company mil- dustry is clearly illustrated in uct line. lions of dollars each year. With the high degree of patent activ- In order to help our custom- ever-increasing competition in ity within the Company. WE ers provide the finest communi- the communications industry, has been issued more than cations service at a reasonable Cost Reduction continues to be 14,000 patents in its more than 4 Engineers continually work to improve product reliability through the development of sophisticated test equipment. an important part of all of our jobs, Our advancing, technological environment offers a continual challenge to the engineer to keep abreast of the state-of-the-art in the industry. So, a Western Electric engineer's training doesn't stop when he graduates from college; in fact, it's just beginning. Our Corporate Education Center, located near Princeton, New Jersey, and our Summer on Campus Mas-ter's Program are only two ways that education continues. More importantly, it occurs on the job, where engineers interact daily with their peers, technicians, and other professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, as well as the techni-cal/professional employees in Bell Laboratories, Together, WE manufacturing engineers and Bell Labs research engineers and scientists strive to improve the new and existing products upon which a reliable communications network depends. Engineers are involved in all aspects of our business from planning process and product development, to facilities engineering. Their diverse backgrounds and interests come together to meet the challenge of our ever-changing world. 5 that one speck of dust can turn the sophisticated device into Manufacturing junk, With this in mind, our clean rooms are designed to reduce the Through a layman's eyes the number of particles in the air first look at the Reading Works from more than a million to less is both fascinating and than 100 per cubic foot.

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