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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tickertype who wrote (8098)	2/9/1999 5:42:00 PM
From: Rich Wolf	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 27311

Yes, Tickertype, the handling of the cells once they are made is where it would seem to become more of a manual process. However, everything up to that point was automated (with the caveat regarding the packaging for the large cells, as noted in my previous post). After packaging, there were the 2-3 days of 'off-gassing,' and then the 30 day quarantine. The barcoded trays were loaded into the quarantine chamber by hand, but then the machine slid them back into its bowels for safekeeping in its controlled environment. We didn't see the actual charging and testing processes that take place before quarantine, or the testing afterwards. Regarding the impressive machinery, just picture: Dry powder mixers the size of a couple of 55 gal. drums, on their sides, containing rotating blades, to mix the ingredients to their specs (recall they thought they could get them pre-mixed, but then found they were better off doing this themselves). Giant liquid mixers (4), nearly 40' tall, handling 400 gallons each. The thin film coater machine, 150' long and making 5' wide sheets at a rate of 5 feet per minute, which are rolled up for use by the laminators. Laminators which automatically self-feed from new rolls, and put the sheets together onto either side of the grid. Result can be as thin as 1.3mm. Imagine the requisite quality control (temperature, humidity, mechanical pressure, feed rate, etc). Then the sheet is sliced into narrower ribbons (cell width), then those ribbons are cut into the bi-cells, and electrodes attached. Then the robot arm swings to grab the bi-cells, and stack as requested into the 'pucks' (=CELLS), which then are heated again. There's 'drying' involved at various stages as well. All the above IS fully-automated. The cells are then passed on for packaging, charging, etc as I posted details about previously, and then off-gassing and quarantine, as noted above. And I've probably skipped some steps...but this is off the top of my head (will refer to notes later).