Micropolis plan takes disties to task over drives

Micropolis has blamed poor disk drive handling in distributor and dealer warehouses for an alarming rise in the number of drives returned due to damage.

The high-end storage vendor has launched a drive-handling programme, dubbed Reliability Fanatics, to tackle the problem.

The programme is aimed at warehouse and store workers with no knowledge of disk drives. Micropolis is planning to visit its distributors to train staff in the dos and don?ts of drive handling. Each distributor will get a Reliability Fanatics diploma and posters outlining how to avoid excessive shock, vibration and electrostatic discharge, which can affect the drives.

?It?s an industry problem,? said Linda Stares, Micropolis UK marketing representative, ?especially as drives are getting more sophisticated. It also needs to be extended to drivers of vehicles. It?s no good teaching warehouse people to treat drives like boxes of eggs and then have drivers kicking them around. It?s a big task.?