Mother Nature in Manufacturing

Sometimes it's difficult to understand why certain things we make work so poorly or so well. When they work poorly, we look for problems. When they work even better than expected, we hope we can repeat the good fortune over and over, unit after unit.

In other words, manufacturing repeatability can be a tricky thing, and replicating a process in a different place -- even with step-by-step cookbook instructions -- may produce disappointing end results.  

The reason may be that environment, in certain instances, has more to do than we know with the original success.  Whether the environment’s influence is upon materials, storage factors, curing -- all of these, or none of these, we simply may not know

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For example, we're all familiar with Stradivarius violins and their reputation of outstanding resonance and tonal quality. Despite the best modern day efforts, Stradivarius violins produced in the late 1700's and early 1800's are still considered unique -- the best violins ever. 

Many theories have attempted to explain why these instruments are so remarkable. Here's a recent one. Between 1400 and 1800 a “Little Ice Age” took place, which peaked between 1645 and 1715 during the coldest period called the "Maunder Minimum." Trees growing during that peak period showed the slowest growth rates of the entire last 500 years. 

In other words, Stradivarius and his contemporaries had access to and used especially dense spruce and other woods produced during this very cold period, without realizing their instruments would be unique because of Mother Nature.

Back to modern times, a wound film capacitor hardly compares in stature or importance to a Stradivarius violin in most people's minds. Also, Tucson, Arizona in 2015 is nothing like La Casa Nuziale, Italy in the 1700's. Oddly, however, certain capacitors built in Tucson may share a reason for excellence with those special violins -- the environment in which they are manufactured.

Tucson's consistently hot and dry conditions enable an ETI company, Arizona Capacitors, Inc., to make the very best wound film capacitors available today. So special are models of these capacitors that they are widely used in today's highest quality audio reproduction and amplification equipment. 

Because engineers can't be sure exactly "why" these audio capacitors work so well, they refuse to tinker at all with the manufacturing circumstances (location, environment, processes) in which they are built. And they’re certainly not seeking an offshore manufacturing source. 

After all, if the capacitors are helping amplify the music of a Stradivarius violin some evening, they have to do their job just right.