Speakers

      As the world's leading supplier of speakers to automotive OEM's, the Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America Speaker Group is widely recognized for our overall ability to provide value to our customers. The ultimate test, of course, is the listening enjoyment of a car's occupants. We take pride in consistently passing that test with the highest grades in the class. There is much more behind the scene, however, of which the end consumer is not aware. Automotive manufacturers, on the other hand, are keenly aware of the unparalleled service, performance, reliability, and cost value offered by the Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America Speaker Group from our facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Reynosa, Mexico. Unquestionably, the key components to a car's sound system are the speakers. Ultimately, the head unit sends its signal to the speakers. No head unit, equalizer, amplifier, or processor can compensate for speakers which produce less than a lifelike sound reproduction. That is why the design, testing, and process control for our speakers is unwavering in meeting the standards of excellence we have embraced as a commitment to our customers.

     Our design engineering staff is second to none in the automotive speaker field. Woofers, subwoofers,tweeters, two-ways, and related housings and enclosures are all designed to customer mechanical and acoustical specifications. Interface with customer engineering is made utilizing ISDN with a variety of CAD software including SDRC, CATIA, Unigraphics, and Pro-E.
      Because speed is critical in bringing products from the concept stage to mass production, Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America incorporates advanced technical resources into our development process. Mechanical prototypes can be created from 3-D CAD designs using stereo lithography techniques. The skilled technicians in our sample shop create working prototypes efficiently and on schedule. These resources greatly shorten project time and allow even the most stringent customer timetables to be met.

      The automobile is a difficult venue for enjoying world class audio. The ever-changing environment of the road presents a challenge for durability of the speakers as well as realistic sound reproduction. Before the first speaker is installed in a vehicle, all Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America speaker designs have passed rigorous tests simulating a wide range of environmental and road conditions. Our Reliability Labs feature the finest test equipment available for thermal, humidity, vibration, shock, salt spray, stress, and accelerated aging simulations. Speaker performance is verified in our anechoic chamber and through in-vehicle testing in our showroom.

      State of the art production equipment is manned by our skilled and disciplined workforce. Highly roboticized, our production lines provide consistency in meeting exacting product specifications. Utilizing advanced product quality planning, a control plan is developed for each speaker model with an operation manual featuring a separate page with unique illustrated work instructions for each employee who works on that model. Our employees' dedication and pride of workmanship is evidenced by their loyal adherence to the instructions, quality checks, and tolerances prescribed in the control plans.

      The Quality Management System for Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America's Speaker Group is registered to the ISO/TS-16949 standard. The rigorous requirements of this automotive standard guide our commitment to excellence from the clear assignment of responsibilities to design and process control to every element of our quality control department. Our mature, well-defined internal auditing and corrective action programs have been instrumental to attaining continuous improvement throughout the Speaker Group.

      Perhaps nothing better distinguishes the Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America Speaker Group from other speaker manufacturers than our exceptional commitment to customer satisfaction. We know we can not satisfy our customers fully simply by having the best performing, most reliable, most cost-competitive speakers in the business. But when we add our on-time delivery record, incredibly short lead times, turn around time for response to customer requests, and a smile you can hear over the phone, it becomes clear why we are the first choice for North American automakers.

      The environment is important to all of us. The Speaker Group's Environmental Management System has been registered to the international standard of ISO 14001 since 1998. Our sense of social ethics guides us to be environmentally responsible in the materials we purchase and the production processes we use in manufacturing. Our customers, employees, and neighbors can be assured that commitment to sound environmental policies and practices are a prerequisite to any operation we undertake.