Assembly meisterAn assembly meister is a specialist who understands the intent of the design, then assembles all of the necessary components into the tiny shell. The painstaking task requires extreme precision. In the case of Completely-In-Canal (Mini CIC), the assembly meister holds the shell under a microscope while using a pair of tweezers to insert the three components, each the size of a grain of rice—a DSP(Note), microphone, and receiver—into a shell smaller than a one-yen coin. Placing these components in the shell requires precision and a delicate touch to keep the components from touch-ing each other; contact can result in short circuits or feedback.“e design of the Completely-In-Canal (Mini CIC) has exacting tolerances because it has to be so small. If I’m too impulsive, that extra force exerted by my ngers can break the lead wires or components. In the beginning, I couldn’t gure out how much force was needed. The harder I tried, the more things I broke.”That’s how Harumi Akatsuka, the assembly meister, recollects her experiences. Her work requires precision; not just anyone can do it. Some engineers can handle the assembly of other hearing aid series, but when it comes to the Completely-In-Canal (Mini CIC), they raise the white ag, saying it’s too small for them to assemble. Akatsuka has demonstrated her dexterity and made steady progress. During assembly, one has to carefully handle not just the three com-ponents, but the lead wires connecting them; the drawings don’t account for the lead wires. Sometimes, Akatsuka nds the lead wires aren’t long enough to position the components as indicated in the drawing. ese cases challenge her to devise a ratio-nal solution for a new layout and assemble the components in less space than shown in the original drawing. Native talent, howev-er, isn’t sucient to be an eective assembly meister.“I have a list of special points to note for each hearing aid model, which I try to keep in mind while I work. For example, ‘is model tends to generate feedback if I’m not careful with the angle of the receiver,’ or ‘I have to be careful with the monolament line with this model.’ Speed is of the essence, so I have to perform the assembly eciently while meeting the precision requirements for each model. I’ve learned all these things from experience.”e scope of her work includes closing the lid and taking measurements. A single hearing aid unit takes 30 to 40 minutes to process. Very dicult cases can take up to an hour.“In most cases, I only need to take a look at the drawings to know who modeled it. I don’t even have to see their names. The characteristics are that obvious. In especial-ly dicult cases, I nd myself commenting, ‘Wow, so that’s how you lay out the compo-nents to make it so small.’ e challenge is an inspiration.”Harumi AkatsukaLeader of the Hearing Aid Manufacturing Section, Hearing Aid Manufacturing Department, Rion Techno Co., Ltd. She was invited to join the company on the strength of manual dexterity skills de-veloped while working as a dental tech-nician. She has worked as an assembly meister since April 2014.An intricate, delicate, millimeter-scaled world that demands a bold and rational mindChecking for problems in component placementAfter the parts are assembled, the meister checks with her own ears to make sure there is no feedback before closing the lid. She must sharpen her senses of sight, touch, and hearing to perform this task.Difficulty in moderating force when handling the partsIn this millimeter-scaled world, even smaller components are placed inside the micro shell. Due to their small size, the components are delicate. They require the gentlest handling at the tips of tweezers while holding one’s breath.The finished shells are numbered for identifi-cation. An on-demand printer capable of printing fine and beautiful characters is used to print serial numbers and other information.On-demand printingThis process applies a gloss to the shell. Our proprietary automatic coating equipment ensures coating film uniformity, quality, and a beautiful finish.CoatingMultiple parts, the size of a grain of rice, are skillfully placed inside a shell the size of the tip of a pinky finger. Due to the challenges posed by this task, the extremely small Completely-In-Canal (Mini CIC) can be handled only by meisters.AssemblyMeister(Note) A DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is a device that performs noise reduction, feedback suppression, and other processing based on signals received from a microphone.9
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