[Sugar-devel] The future of Sugar on XO-1s

[James Cameron]

On Sat, Apr 09, 2016 at 08:47:35AM -0400, Dave Crossland wrote:
> 
> On 9 April 2016 at 06:31, James Cameron <[1]quozl at laptop.org> wrote:
> 
>     The XO-4 is in production.
> 
> What's the minimum order from OLPC? :) 

You are asking for the minimum order quantity (MOQ) of the XO-4.

I don't know, it's not my task, and I don't feel I can escalate the
question for you.  I'm an engineering contractor with specific tasks,
not an office bearer or manager.

The XO-4 MOQ could change day by day, as exchange rates, shipping,
metal prices, component prices and their MOQ shift and change.

Two of my tasks are firmware based production testing and first
article inspection (FAI) approvals.

Here's how some of the process works:

A configuration is a set of component specifications; e.g. keyboard
type, language, model, peripherals, storage, CPU, RAM, camera,
wireless, battery.

A stock keeping unit (SKU) is a unique configuration to be
manufactured and tested.  We have a list of SKUs on our Wiki at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Manufacturing_data#XO-4

An order comes in from a customer with a configuration.  When the
configuration is in our list, we use that SKU.  Otherwise, a new SKU
is added.

An FAI occurs once for each SKU.  After that, the SKU can be
manufactured for other orders.  Changes to the source of components in
a configuration may trigger another FAI.  An FAI does not list
quantities.

Quantities inform my customer support task.  To provide support, my
lab has representative SKUs.  Having a sample of each component is
critical for support.  Having one of each SKU would be perfect, but
prohibitive.

So I have to get an idea of the quantities to keep the cost of the lab
down.  In the past two years there has been production of as few as
100 units of an SKU.  The lowest XO-4 MOQ observed.

But, as I said at the outset, that doesn't always hold true, and it
isn't a number to be taken as a promise.  If there is a serious
purchaser, they should be talking to OLPC directly, not to some random
stranger they meet on a public mailing list.  ;-)

-- 
James Cameron
http://quozl.netrek.org/