Factory Tour – Kingston Technology Taiwan

Flash Memory Production

Other than getting a chance to see DDR2 and FB-DIMM memory modules being made, we also got a chance to see some flash memory being assembled. Since Kingston makes flash memory that will later be branded other brands, we were unable to document the process, but have included some pictures that we thought would be interesting. Above are USB Flash Drives that have been fully assembled and are waiting for touch-up (note the red arrows pointing to solder issues).

Once the USB Flash drives pass testing they are then stored in foam creates and wait in queue for packaging.

Kingston was also putting the casing on Secure Digital flash memory cards while we were on our tour, which was pretty interesting.

Kingston employees take the PCB (located in the clear tray) and then place the front and back casings (the two white trays) onto the PCB. Once each SD module is assembled, they go directly to an infrared soldering system that individually soldered the case halves together in the blink of an eye. We were unable to take a picture of this machine as it is a proprietary design that Kingston doesn’t want competitors to see.

Leaving the production floor we were able to snap a picture of the thousands of boxes full of production components that are waiting to be assembled. I wonder just how many IC’s are in those boxes!

Final Thoughts:

The tour of Kingston’s Taiwan manufacturing plants was a great chance for us to understand how a memory module is produced and all the work that goes into the process. To see each and every module go through various testing stages was impressive and it is one of the reason that Kingston is the number one memory company in the world. When you buy one of their products and plug it in you shouldn’t have to cross your fingers and pray that it works. Kingston has already tested it for you and made sure it was in full working condition before it was shipped around the world.

This was the first time that Legit Reviews has been able to see flash memory production and while we were not allowed to take pictures of the majority of the flash memory line, we were happy to bring you the pictures that we have. Hopefully, now the next time you look at a memory module you have a better idea of how it began life!