PC-Doctor contract with IGT an important home-field win

Here's why Reno's PC-Doctor Inc. made a big noise last week about the contract it won with International Game Technology:

PC-Doctor figures it needs to win the games on its home field, and there's nothing more home-field than a major manufacturer located right across the street.

Privately held PC-Doctor didn't detail the size of its order from IGT, but Marketing Vice President Doug Van Aman said its significance extends far beyond financial aspects of the deal.

For one, he noted, this marks PC-Doctor's first foray into the gaming industry, an important manufacturing sector in Nevada.

The products developed by PC-Doctor test computer systems to intercept defective or damaged boards.

While many of the company's customers are big computer makers Hewlett-Packard, for instance Van Aman said PC-Doctor also has won acceptance among manufacturers whose products include embedded computers.

IGT will use the PC-Doctor system to test for flaws in its Advanced Video Platform a key element in many of its gaming devices to intercept bad boards before they're installed or shipped.

The company also will use the PC-Doctor system to verify faults in units that are rejected from the assembly line.

Ernie Baragar, a staff manufacturing engineer for IGT, said the company expects the new software will improve its output of the Advanced Video Platform assemblies that are a key component in the manufacturing operation.

Carol Roberts, a senior product manager for PC-Doctor, noted that IGT previously was catching bad boards relatively late in the manufacturing process. That meant that correcting the problem was costly and caused delays.

PC-Doctor doesn't expect that the IGT contract will lead to additional staff. The company currently employs about 70.

Founded in 1993, privately held PC-Doctor moved to Reno from Emeryville, Calif., in 2003. It's sold more than 100 million units of its diagnostic software worldwide.