Kendall Resnick
This page is an account of the research I have done for the Digital Archeology Project [DGST 101, Spring 2019 UMW]. For the project, my group took apart and researched various parts from a Dell Inspiron 14Z-5423 laptop. The three parts that I identified were the HDD Card, CPU Fan, and DVD Rewriter. Using the information on the individual items, I was able to research and source them to their original countries, companies, and factories.
More information about the individual parts is shown below.
Class: Physical Object
Title: 2.5" HDD
Description: 2.5" by 3.9" metal rectangle
Provenance: Part made in China, laptop assembled in Taiwan.
Function: Storage Device
Identifier: CN-0W2N02-72622-37H-0ATW-A01
Country of Origin: China
Part Number: 9WS142-031
Date Code: 14035
Date Created: 7/2013
Other Markings: ST500LT012
Manufacturer: Seagate Technology LLC, RM 910, No. 101, Nanmatou Road, Pudong District Shanghai, Shanghai
Evidence: I looked up the FCC ID from the hard drive on the Federal Communications Commission website. This gave me a lot of info on places and dates. I also was able to find the HDD on the Seagate website and from there I determined the location of manufacturer.
Sources:
https://fccid.io/KCCREMSTXMOMENTUSTHINB
https://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/laptop-hard-drives/momentus-thin/
Curator: Kendall Resnick
Humanitarian Impact: Seagate's website has a vast amount of information regarding labor and human rights, health, safety and wellness, and environmental impact. They dicuss child labor, working hours, workforce safety, and more. I was not able to find any evidence that they do not uphold these standards.
Source: https://www.seagate.com/global-citizenship/our-employees/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class: Physical Object
Title: Super Multi DVD Rewriter
Description: Geometric metal shape
Provenance: Part made in South Korea, laptop assembled in Taiwan.
Function: Reads and writes CDs/DVDs
Identifier: CN-08RW6T-48321-29P-039A-A01
Country of Origin: South Korea
Part Number: 08RW6T
Date Created: 9/25/12
Other Markings: KCC-REM-LGE-DMGU70N
Manufacturer: Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. 459-9 Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Evidence: I looked up the FCC ID on the Federal Commission Communications website and was able to find the manufacturing information from there.
Sources: https://fccid.io/KCC-REM-LGE-DMGU70N
Curator: Kendall Resnick
Humanitarian Impact: The Hitachi-LG Data Storage website includes a CMR (Conflict Minerals Policy). It is stated that "It is HLDS’s policy to take due-diligence measures in procurement activities to avoid sourcing conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) which finance or benefit armed groups abusing human rights in the DRC or adjoining countries. The HLDS procurement division is committed to building a sustainable supply chain while avoiding procurement of conflict minerals. This does not mean that HLDS will not procure any materials or parts from DRC or adjoining countries at all, but, rather HLDS will continue to procure minerals that are lawfully permitted." As you can imagine, there are only certain steps you can take to assure these things. Some materials used are undoubtedly conflict minerals.
Sources:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class: Physical Object
Title: CPU Fan with Heatsink
Description: Small black plastic fan with metal extension
Provenance: Part made in China, laptop assembled in Taiwan.
Function: Prevents CPU from overheating
Identifier: CN-0MPF3D-72744-2A9-01KG-A00
Country of Origin: China
Part Number: 0MPF3D
Date Created: 10/13/12
Other Markings: 60.4UV01.002 A02
Manufacturer: Dell Incorporated, No. 2366-2388, Jinshang Rd., Information Guangdian, Xiamen, Fujian, 361011, People's Republic of China
Evidence: This item was the hardest to figure out, but after researching the part number I was able to determine that it was made in China and is official Dell brand, which means it was made in a Dell factory. I went to the Dell site and found a list of all their part manufacturers. Only two Dell factories are in China, and only one made parts for Inspiron computers. This led me to the conclusion that the part was manufactured there.
Sources:
https://corporate.delltechnologies.com/en-us/about-us/who-we-are.htm
https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/corporate/corp-comm/en/Documents/dell-suppliers.pdf?newtab=true
Curator: Kendall Resnick
Humanitarian Impact: Dell's website claims that they have strict standards that guide how they do business, and ensures a safe workplace for their employees. It states that "Dell’s policies also govern the materials used in our products and how the suppliers that support our operations are held to highest ethical and environmental standards." This sounds great, but the China Labor Watch has previously reported that Dell's Chinese companies violate many Chinese labor laws regarding things such as "overtime, wages, labor intensity, contracts, and discrimination."
Sources:
https://corporate.delltechnologies.com/en-us/social-impact/reporting/policies-and-positions.htm