Reducing Wiring Errors by Patchboard Design

Abstract

The selection of optimal patterning and labeling schemes for patchboards is not as simple as it may seem. Only two of six experimental schemes were an improvement over a standard scheme that was used for comparison. The use of letters above and below each hole in a board substantially reduced one of the most common types of wiring error—the placing of a pin one hole to the left or right of the position in which it should have been placed. This lettered board produced only one-half of the errors made on the standard board, was wired in 8 per cent less time and was highly preferred by the technicians who served as experimental subjects.