Semiconductor Manufacturing

No Time to Waste

After 40 years of non-stop technological progress, the semiconductor manufacturing industry shows no signs of slowing down. Shorter product lifecycles demand faster and faster development cycles. As mass-produced chips move from nodes of 45 nm to 32 nm to 25 nm and 22 nm and beyond, the costs for design and test failures will double and triple. To meet customer demands for ever greater product variety, production methods continue to move from high volume/low mix to high volume/high mix.

In their never-ending battle against time and global competitors, semiconductor manufacturers have called on TBM Consulting Group to help them apply a unique combination of lean and Six Sigma time-based management techniques, which we bring together as Lean Sigma. Our work in semiconductor fabrication operations has helped them meet and exceed industry benchmarks, grow revenues, increase gross margins and speed cash flow. Specific projects have:

  • Reduced product development cycle times and tripled first-time quality yields
  • Enhanced maintenance processes to dramatically increase uptime and maximize capacity utilization
  • Accelerated equipment changeovers to enhance production flexibility
  • Right-sized equipment and workflow to trim work-in-process inventory

When missed chip delivery and product launch dates can cost millions of dollars per day, semiconductor makers don’t have time to make incremental efficiency gains. Process improvements have to be fully implemented and yield an immediate impact. TBM leverages the expertise of cross-department teams and applies Lean Sigma tools to rapidly achieve double-digit improvements in cycle time, quality, uptime and productivity. Compounded over time, such experiences and results can build a highly competitive culture of excellence. 

A recent semiconductor project targeted the engineering change order process (ECO) with the goal of improving the fab’s ability to deliver products on time to customer specifications. We helped the continuous improvement team identify opportunities to eliminate wait time, simplify process steps, cut out unnecessary reviews and expedite ECO flow. Specifically, the team learned and applied lean tools that included business process mapping, standard work, and 5S; and they applied Six Sigma tools to analyze ECO processing data. As a result the lead time from ECO creation to release dropped from 23 to 6 days; and lead time from ECO release to implementation dropped from 20 to 5 days. 

Within your semiconductor operations, TBM can help you set business priorities and fully leverage Lean and Six Sigma techniques. We start by helping you build your continuous improvement team’s knowledge and skills, including thorough training, exposure to best practice operations, and personal coaching that will ultimately enable your organization to become self-sufficient. Using a combination of project teams and the kaizen breakthrough methodology, we help clients move their operations forward simultaneously in multiple areas.

It sounds simple. But as any business leader knows who has tried to implement lean in technology-intensive operations and achieved lackluster results, it’s all too easy to become distracted by daily demands and fall back into old habits. The hardest part is always cultural, which provides the foundation for sustainable progress. If it were easy, everyone would do it and there would be no competitive advantage.

TBM business consultants have worked with semiconductor manufacturers around the world to generate breakthrough business improvements. To learn more about our experience and how we can help your company move forward, contact us at 800-438-5535.