why does lcd module need sla quotation

The two main types of SLA systems are desktop (prototyping) and industrial printers. Industrial SLA machines can produce more accurate components than their desktop counterparts (and maintain better accuracy over larger builds), and often make use of higher-cost materials. While desktop SLA can achieve tolerances between 150 and 300 microns, industrial printers are capable of tolerances as low as 30 microns for nearly any build size.

One of the limitations of most industrial machines is that they produce parts using a top-down approach resulting in the need for large resin tanks (over 100L). This makes swapping between materials difficult and can increase lead time on parts. This also makes these machines more expensive to maintain.

Compared to desktop printers, industrial machines are designed for repeatability and reliability. They can often produce the same part over and over again and do not need the high level of user interaction that desktop machines typically require.

Overall, SLA’s unique ability to batch produce intricate, customized parts makes it a popular method of manufacturing small parts, low-run production.

Service level agreements (SLA) are an integral part of business. Every OPEX includes line items for multiple contracts to support the equipment that keeps the company running.

Yet few leaders understand their SLA coverage and how it impacts their business in a time of crisis. In fact, many companies are paying for coverage that does not meet their business needs, or equally worse, far exceed them at a substantial cost.

By the mid to late 1990s, the footprint of OEM equipment within the business landscape had increased dramatically, and clients could no longer afford to wait for defective equipment to be repaired and returned. To ensure continued equipment availability, OEM SLAs offered Advance Replacement coverage. Under a Advance Replacement agreement, the OEM performed troubleshooting and would immediately send out new equipment, in advance of receiving the defective piece, if the issue could not be resolved. After receiving the replacement equipment, the client would return the defective hardware, thus minimizing downtime.

Supporting Advance Replacement agreements forced OEMs to increase production to ensure availability. These agreements also drove a need for advanced levels of troubleshooting. With advanced troubleshooting, OEMs could avoid unnecessarily replacing equipment and clients could avoid the hassle of installing new hardware. This demand was the genesis of the tiered support that is commonplace today.

Service level agreements worked well until the late 90’s to early 2000s. The OEM provided all support and equipment repair, which meant that the coverage was expensive, but the service was good. Slowly, the recurring revenue stream associated with SLAs increased and OEMs began treating it as an independent business unit.

As SLAs developed into a distinct and robust revenue stream, OEMs began to examine the real cost of supporting fielded equipment. As equipment ages, support becomes more costly, so OEM service agreements were revised to reflect these higher potential costs. This was the first sign that the value to the client was in jeopardy.

After SLA’s quality peaked in the late 1990s, the value to the client began to diminish. Support agreements were re-written to place undeserved value on response times when what businesses really need is resolution. Cost cutting efforts by OEMs led to outsourcing basic levels of troubleshooting support to cheap providers.

To avoid costs, the outsource teams are incentivized to prevent equipment replacements and escalation of cases to OEM support teams which creates a clear separation of deliverables. The goals of the support provider are not in alignment with the business needs of the client. As a result, clients are often kept in a given tier of support for too long.

When service companies are focused on cost, service suffers. When service suffers, there is an impact on the economy of the end user. The deficit created by low-value SLAs has opened the door for independent providers to go back to the basics of support and provide fast resolution, increased uptime, and reliable service. Support providers that emphasize quality ensure that coverage levels meet the needs of the business. They also allow troubleshooting engineers the time and space to provide high-quality service and provide superior hardware replacements.

Service level agreements have undergone dramatic changes in recent decades, and as a result, much of the “service” aspect has been removed. When considering a new SLA purchase, thoughtfully and thoroughly review each element of the agreement to be sure that it supports the needs of the business without creating an over-coverage situation. To safeguard against unnecessary coverage or coverage shortages, consult with an expert that fully understands service level agreements and can evaluate your business needs and recommend ideal support levels.

Reading a standard service level agreement can be as dull and confusing as reading the fine print on your checking account agreement. However, understanding the way amaintenance firm operateswill help you eliminate those that do not line-up with your business’ needs. To get a quick overview, review the standard operating procedures of the firm. This enables you to understand the type of service the company provides and quickly compare it to other firms.

To avoid over-coverage (and overspending) in one area simply to gain access to the coverage needed in another area, look fornetwork maintenance providersthat allow service agreement customization. This will enable you to buy only the coverage you need without purchasing unnecessary and expensive options.

Only 20 to 25% of clients actively use SLAs that are distinguished by clear, simple language and a tight focus on the needs and wants of the business. –(Click to Tweet)

Whendeveloping a new SLA, it is critical that everyone speak the same language. Partner with a maintenance provider that adjusts the contract to match your internal priority definitions. Mapping your internal terminology to your agreement allows you to avoid confusion and eliminates the need to re-train your staff to speak in the language of your service agreement.

Dividing an SLA into different performance levels, such as basic, enhanced or premium [allows] CIOs to easily weigh the resource and cost trade-offs required to achieve different levels of support -(Click to Tweet)

To avoid this, look for a service provider that allows clients to upgrade or downgrade ticket severity without approval from the service provider. This prevents you from waiting for the service you need and keeps you incontrol of your support.

Independent IT network maintenance providers vary greatly. Finding the right balance of service, support, and customization allows you to build a service level agreement that matches your business needs without overspending on unnecessary coverage or increasing downtime.

You"ve probably heard of LCD, SLA and DLP 3D printers - but what"s not clear: which one is most suitable for your dental office or lab? And which specs matter? We’re here to help you out.

SLA, LCD, and DLP are the most commonly used 3D printing technologies in the dental industry. All three use photosensitive resins, which means that layer by layer is cured using a light source. This process transforms liquid resins into solid layers and, eventually, whole parts. This makes it sound like the 3 technologies are the same – but they’re not.

SLA was the first 3D printing technology produced. Since it was first developed in the 1980s, not much has changed. Unlike DLP and LCD technologies, the light source used is a laser. The laser beam sweeps across the resin tank and solidifies the material layer by layer.

In 3D printing, DLP does not use a laser, but a projector. The moment the light hits the resin, it’s not restricted to a single spot as with SLA. Instead, the whole layer is formed at once. Here, patterning of the illumination is critical to achieving the desired shape for each layer.

LCD 3D printing is very similar to DLP, as it flashes entire layers at once curing resin inside the resin tank. What differentiates the two technologies is thelight source.

LCD technology does not employ a projector, but an array of LEDs exposing the UV light through an LCD screen. The screen only lets the light pass through areas that are to be cured, simplifying the process and removing the need for any moving parts.

The resolution has only a very minimal impact on the accuracy of the print. Its major role in 3D printing is the smoothness of the application’s surface. High-end SLA printers will produce parts that are smooth as silk. LCD printers coming in a close second. Comparably, DLP printers produce less smooth results and thus, are not ideal for dental applications such as temporary crowns or dentures.

From learning what an SLA is to why you need one, and what goes in an SLA to the different types of SLAs available, you learned about the incredible usefulness of SLAs without the high-level, confusing baloney.

I too know the difficulty involved with creating SLAs – but they’re needed. They’re there to establish trust and accountability, and at a time when 10 out of 15 companies are rapidly losing the trust of others, creating SLAs for your customers and clients will put you at a great advantage.

That’s why, in this post, I’ll be providing you with additional tips and tricks for creating, editing, and using SLA templates. You’ll also get your hands on easy-to-use Process Street SLA templates, from which you can create an infinite number of SLAs without hardly any effort (I’ll be focusing on one in particular)!

With this handy template, you’re able to create SLAs for you (supplier) and your customers. Thanks to the magic of variables, making SLAs a breeze. In fact, in the time you’ve read this paragraph, you could’ve already made one!

As a supplier, you’ll want to make sure the SLA is periodically reviewed and managed so both parties are happy. With this checklist template, you’re able to create SLAs from scratch and manage them as time goes on!

Last but by no means least is this tracking template. While you can’t create SLAs with this checklist template, you can track, measure, and review all your SLA-related metrics with precision.

“An SLA, or service-level agreement, is a document created together by two or more parties to specify services that a provider will deliver to a customer.

Now, the above definition – like others you’ll find in both dictionaries and online – is broad. That’s because SLAs are inherently broad; there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding what and what should not go into an SLA.

For customer-based and service-based SLAs, there are usually two parties involved – the supplier who’s, well, supplying the services, and the customer that’s receiving them. Meanwhile, for multi-level service SLAs, there will be various departments, parties, or organizations involved (after all, it’s in the name – multi-level!) But no matter what kind of SLA you’re going to use, it’s important to declare who’s involved at all levels.

In most SLAs, you’ll see a statement regarding what the SLA document is set out to do – its objective, goal, and purpose. This information usually appears right off the bat, in short, succinct, staccato paragraphs.

Question: How can an SLA be an SLA without including a list of services that’s to be supplied? Answer: It can’t. That’s why an SLA needs to note exactly what services are being supplied. For instance, if an MSP is outsourcing services to a customer, the listed services might look similar to this list from TechHelpDirect: Telephone support; Email support; Remote assistance using TeamViewer or Remote Desktop (Apple or Microsoft); Support within business operating hours; Support outside of business operating hours.

It’s not enough to list the services being provided. There also needs to be information regarding what times the services will be carried out (e.g. 7.30 am – 10 pm), where they will be carried out, to what standard, and what, exactly, each service entails. This completely informs the customer of what’s in store, plus, it holds the supplier accountable for the services provided.

If all parties approve the agreement, then there needs to be upkeep to ensure the parties involved are happy, and there no failures from the parties who are supposed to be upholding their requirements and responsibilities. Simply put, this means regular (quarterly) reviews should take place. In the SLA’s text, there’s usually a section that describes the protocols for these reviews, who will do them, when, and how other parties should be contacted if an issue is found.

If all the information looks correct – and the customer in question is happy with what the SLA states – the receiver of the services will then approve the SLA. This could come in the form of a signature, or with the click of a button, should the SLA be created using contemporary software. Either way, it’s often advised to add a section at the end of the SLA to show that the SLA has, indeed, been approved.

Now, how all the above elements are presented in an SLA differs wildly. It could be all on one page, or it could be a whopping 100+ page document. Similarly, the terminology may also differ, depending on how proficient a supplier is with legalese.

Take this (hefty, but well worth it) quote from the United Kingdom’s Southend-on-Sea borough council, where they superbly explain the difference between a contract and an SLA:

An SLA would focus only on the performance measuring and service quality agreed to by both parties, and may be used as a measurement tool as part of the contract. The service levels themselves may be established based on various factors, for example, a service provider may provide on-line credit checks to its customers. A service level in the contract may state the on-line service must be operational 99% of any given month, or it must provide the requested information with 3 hours after a request, etc.

The rationale for having a separate SLA document is that you can revise the SLA without having to revise the contract. The contract can just refer to the agreed SLA. The contract might then last for 2 years but the SLA may be reviewed quarterly, for example. This reduces the administrative burden of reviewing the contract too frequently.” – Southend-on-Sea borough council,

With all this considered, an SLA is a mutable agreement that ebbs and flows, changes with time, and essentially sets the precedented for a supplier of services and those who are receiving the services.

Now the definition of service level agreements has well and truly been covered, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty: Understanding how effective SLAs are created.

Once those questions have been answered and the SLA template you want to create is a little clearer in your mind, it’s time to pen it down. Digitally, of course.

For instance, you could use Microsoft Word from the Office 365 bundle as a simple solution. Although it will take a little work transforming a blank document into something that resembles an SLA template, it’s certainly standard for many organizations to use Word for exactly this.

Specifically, you can simply build the template and leave placeholder text, such as {COMPANY NAME HERE} or {DATE HERE} which you replace each time you want to create a new SLA document from that template.

Similarly, you can also use Google Docs. There are additional advantages that come with using Google Docs, namely the ability to easily share the document with either members of your organization or the other organization(s) involved. This makes getting SLA approvals and/or signatures far easier.

For those wanting a more sophisticated, streamlined experience, there’s document automation software and business process management software. These business software solutions will provide you with a more hands-on approach, where you can easily create brilliant SLA templates due to the features that aren’t included in apps such as Word and Google Docs.

The limitation with document automation and generation software though, is that it only focuses on, well, documents. It can only be used for the business documentation and creation of SLA templates, meaning you’ll have to use other pieces of software to manage your other SLA processes, including SLA management!

With BPM software, you can create, document, and even automate all of your business’ processes, no matter if they’re SLA related or not. BONUS CONTENT: Read our post

If you wanted to create an SLA template with Process Street, you’d start by hitting the “Create a blank template” button – after signing up for free, of course.

These form fields could ask the user to write down the date, the name of the organizations involved with the SLA, the services being supplied, the requirements and responsibilities of the organizations involved, and so on.

Then, whenever a checklist is launched from the SLA template, the user adds relevant information to the task’s appropriate form fields. And thanks to the magic of variables, the information added will display again later on in the checklist.

So, let’s say one of the end tasks contains all the pre-written SLA text and any placeholder text, like in the screenshot below. Process Street’s nifty variables feature will ensure the information added by the user will replace the placeholder text, meaning a new SLA pertinent to each new customer, client, or company you work with will be created!

To help you get creating perfect SLAs right off the bat, we’re offering you a super flexible SLA template process (the one mentioned at the beginning of the article) that you can use immediately! Plus, it combines all the advantages of using the aforementioned tools and pieces of software, all in one!

Then, once added, you’ll be presented with your first SLA draft. You can get your customer – or whoever else is involved with the SLA – to then approve the draft itself.

Do keep in mind that, once again, these SLA example templates are incredibly varied. There’s no one-size-fits-all SLA template and they can come in a broad range of sizes, lengths, and looks – the following template examples are no different.

First up is this template from SLAtemplate.com. It covers all the necessary elements – an agreement overview, detailed information about the services being provided, an approval section, and more – all without being too confusing or overwhelming.

For those who know that time is of the essence, this example shows how SLAs don’t need to be longwinded documents. While the most important areas are indeed featured, the SLA doesn’t go overboard with the sheer amount of sections included.

TechHelpDirect (an MSP) uses this very SLA template for the agreements they draw up. And, as you can see from this example of their service-based SLA, it’s a sleek document that wouldn’t give potential customers a headache due to overstuffing.

It facilitates two-way communication between the parties. This communication starts at the beginning of the process to establish an SLA and continues throughout the life of the arrangement. The parties involved come together in order to understand each other’s needs, priorities and concerns, and to gain an insight into the problems which may be faced by each party through the failure of each party to fulfil their obligations.

It is not uncommon for one party’s expectations of another to be higher than that which may be considered reasonable. Discussing these expectations and the resource commitments necessary to meet them is one activity undertaken in the establishment of an SLA. The process facilitates the identification and

measured. It identifies customer expectations, defines the boundaries of the service provision and clarifies responsibilities. In the absence of a shared understanding about needs and priorities, it is easy for conflicts to arise between parties. An SLA and the communication process involved in establishing it help to minimise the conflicts between the parties and provides a means for conflict resolution should a problem arise.

As the SLA defines standards against which the service may be measured and evaluated, it provides the basis for performing an assessment of the effectiveness of the service.” – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),

ArubaCloud – as you might expect from the name – is a Cloud-solutions company. They provide Cloud-based services to a plethora of clients, meaning they need SLAs for each new customer they begin working with.

The succinct nature of the SLA’s text – alongside the smaller typeface and the SLA’s ergonomic layout – means that the most crucial parts of the SLA can be featured across two pages.

They’ve created this SLA template which, due to the way it’s written, would be used by those with SLA know-how – or at least by those with experience of legal writing.

It’s a solid template with sections on the rider agreement, service levels and service credits, and performance monitoring. Despite the legal writing, it could prove inspirational for how you want your SLA to read and feel. If you’re wanting an incredibly authoritative SLA, then maybe this template example will give you some food for thought!

Four SLA template examples to browse, look at and learn from, so should you want to edit your Process Street service level agreement template, you can do so with confidence.

Remember earlier when I mentioned that an integral part of SLA management is for the parties involved to undergo regular reviews? That’s because it is integral, and a necessary SLA process. To make the whole process easier, you can make use of many of Process Street’s readily-available templates and add SLA steps to them!

With the free service level agreement template, information on how to use and edit the template, as well the other handy SLA-related templates, this post on SLA templates has reached its conclusion.

Have you created an SLA before? Do you have any SLA-related tips and tricks to share with the Process Street community? If so, write them down in the comment box below!