Success Stories
From the Semiconductor Industry:
BLMC is the only consulting firm that helps semiconductor fabs analyze their production flow, train and develop an internal team that will design a pull process and then implement a lean manufacturing approach to production. We have done 11 semiconductor fabs in the last 10 years with the usual 70-80% reduction in cycle time, a doubling of capacity and improvements in yield on the order of 5-15%. We have advised semiconductor equipment companies on their service strategies, helping them help their customers while growing their shareholder value. We have worked with some of our semiconductor clients in simplifying their design process, reducing their time to market as a consequence. We have consulted for semiconductor equipment component companies on improving their response to their customers uncertain demand, and we have advised clients who have older technology and equipment and an uncertain future. Over half of our more recent practice has been in this industry and we have broad knowledge of how to improve semiconductor operations and strategies.

Read some of our Semiconductor success stories:

Success Stories
Story #1 Synopsis:
Joining Two Japanese $250M Divisions Into One 1/2 Billion Dollar Factory in 7 Months

Problem:
Our client is a multi-billion dollar electronics media manufacturer in South East Asia with customers across multiple industries. A $300 million division of the company merged with another major electronics manufacturer -- The challenge was to consolidate manufacturing operations for both into one Lean Facility that enabled the $500 million joint entity to meet growing market demand in a short period of time while lowering cycle time and cost.

What We Did:

• Collaborated with the client’s management team to develop a strategy for consolidating manufacturing operations for the joint entity.
• Restructured the Fab, Assembly and Test operations using Lean Manufacturing principles:
  • Redesigned the physical layout of the fabrication, assembly and test operations by reconfiguring into self-contained manufacturing cells to optimize one process flow.
  • Designed and implemented pull systems throughout the operation to reduce inventory.
  • Rethought the quality systems management strategy and based it on First Pass yield and SPC.
  • Implemented TPM to increase OEE and optimize equipment performance.
  • Implemented cross functional teams to solve problems inside the Fab and to reduce the time to implement corrective actions.
• Trained the Client Team in Lean Manufacturing principles and transferred knowledge every step of the way to ensure self-sustained client success.
• Helped the client restructure their manufacturing and process engineering organization to be more effective.

Impact:

• Did this work from Design Start to Implementation Complete in 7 months without compromising production volume.
• Shortened the product cycle time through the Fab and assembly by 50%.
• Reduced work-in-process inventory by 75%.
• Increased equipment uptime and OEE to World Class levels.
• Increased capacity of the combined entity by over 50%.
• Improved yield and overall product quality to increase bottom-line profit.

We helped fundamentally change the way they do business and made them a best-in-class manufacturer in their segment globally.

Success Stories
Story #2 Synopsis:
Moving Fab Cycle-Time From ½ Year to 41 Days in 9 Months

Problem:
The semiconductor manufacturing division of a top aerospace and defense company was experiencing long cycle times, low yields and a cost structure that would not allow them to grow the business into new markets. Also, both external and internal customers had downgraded this division as a supplier and their relationship with these customers needed to quickly improve. In addition, the competition had positioned a technically inferior product as an acceptable substitute.

What We Did:

Provided Business Strategy, Business Planning and Lean Manufacturing assistance that focused on identifying the specific actions necessary to retain the existing customer base and the improvements necessary to take advantage of new market opportunities.

• Worked with the division’s management team to develop a business strategy that focused on speed, flexibility and cost.
• Embarked on a restructuring of the Fab, Assembly and test operations, using Lean Manufacturing principles.
  • Redesigned the physical layout of the assembly and test operations and reconfigured into manufacturing cells.
  • Redesigned the material flow through the Fab, assembly and test operations.
  • Designed and implemented pull scheduling systems throughout the operation.
  • Focused OEE and implemented TPM to increase equipment uptime and output.
  • Implemented cross functional teams to solve problems inside the Fab and to reduce the time to implement corrective actions.

Impact:

• Shortened the product cycle time through the Fab, assembly and test by nearly 80%.
• Reduced work-in-process inventory by 75%.
• Increased equipment uptime and OEE.
• Improved yield and overall product quality by over 100%.

Success Stories
Story #3 Synopsis:
Surviving Using Lean Manufacturing Techniques

Problem:
The semiconductor manufacturing division of a top telecommunications equipment company was losing market share in a market that was highly price competitive. The parent company was evaluating whether this division should be closed and outsourcing was an option. In addition, the business had not been profitable for several years.

What We Did:

The design and implementation of Lean Manufacturing, in a clean room environment, for a major producer of semiconductors, thin film and thick film hybrid microelectronics, for both the commercial and military markets.

• Provided strategy and business planning assistance to determine market opportunities and implementation plan to increase market share and attain profitability.
• Redesigned the 600,000 square foot facility, utilizing cellular manufacturing concepts.
• Implemented pull scheduling and kanbans to reduce work-in-process inventory.
• Utilized SMED techniques to reduce equipment set up time and facilitate reductions in lot size.

Impact:

• During the implementation period quality levels improved dramatically and quality continued to improve even after the completion of the project.
• Reduced costs by over 20%.
• Reduced lead-time by 90%.
• Reduced work-in-process inventory by 70%.
• Improved overall product quality by over 50%.

Success Stories
Story #4 Synopsis:
Quadrupling Output and Halving Cycle-Time in 6 Months

Problem:
This client had a new product and new processes underway with a large increase in volume approaching. Their cycle time was on the order of 70 days, and their capacity was at 650 wafer starts per week (WS/W). Their yield was at around 40% and moving slowly upward. They were building another company’s product on a two year contract. Finally, they were losing money because of the lack of yield and volume.

What We Did:

• We performed a detailed assessment of their operation and suggested that their cycle time could halve and 50% more capacity was available.
• We trained a design team of 25 people from the client, and completed the lean manufacturing design in 8 weeks.
• We implemented the lean design over the next 3 months, retraining everyone in the fab to their new job.
• We changed the quality system to one of SPC based, first pass yield.
• We changed the measurement system from moves to moves per layer.

Impact:

• Cycle time was reduced to 28 days and capacity was increased by a factor of 4…to over 2000 WS/W with a small increase in staff.
• Yield was improved by 20 points and demand volume increased above the breakeven point in this fab.
• The two year contract with the other company was completed in two quarters at a higher average sales price than planned.
• Financial impact was over $100 Million per year in increased profitability.

Success Stories
Story #5 Synopsis:
Lean Manufacturing the Supply Chain World Wide

Problem:
This thin film head company with world-wide operations was losing money and had a very long supply chain. It was considered one of the worst customer sensitive companies in the disk drive industry and was losing market share. It’s weekly planning cycle for quarterly demand through the system took over 8 days, and it was being required to have 3 or more days at the drive plant.

What We Did:

• We performed a very detailed end to end value analysis of the process… from the wafer fab to the slider fab to the HGA assembly to Head Stack Assembly to the drive company… and suggested that their cycle time of almost 3 months could be halved thus increasing capacity in the flow.
• We worked on three projects simultaneously… The Wafer Fab, HGA and Head Stack Assembly in three different plants in the world…over a 6 month time period.
• We cut the overall cycle time to around 45 days; Including 28 days in the fab.
• We increased the capacity of the company by 50%, and allowed them to close several of their plants. We were able to ultimately concentrate manufacturing in just two plants with the attendant reduction in complexity in the supply chain.
• We implemented a statistically buffered supply chain, reducing the inventory in the chain by over 60%, and allowing a response to a customer demand in less than 12 hours from request.

Impact:

• Inventory was radically reduced, as was complexity in the entire supply chain…planning demand with it’s customer base became a simple process.
• The company was able to recover some market share due to rapid responsiveness to its customer’s uncertainty in demand…it could handle the incremental demand easily.
• As the cycle time went down, and the manufacturing issues stopped being overwhelming to the client, the focus shifted back to developing new products… ensuring it’s future demand.
• The reduced cycle times also allowed a faster yield improvement curve to occur at all phases of manufacturing…weeks instead of months.

Success Stories
Story #6 Synopsis:
Reducing the IC Design Cycle

Problem:
This semiconductor company supporting the aerospace industry was only supporting the physical design of its customer’s products in order to fill its fab, but the cycle time was on the order of 3-4 years as a consequence. The time to get business was on the order of one year and the yield of products that resulted was very low. The consequence was one of very poor customer relationships due to the delays inherent in this process.

What We Did:

• We ran a very detailed assessment of the design process over a 6 week period looking at the typical design flow of a project.
• We found that the initial specifications developed during the selling phase were constantly changing with serious redesigns in the physical design and the wafer/device test processes.
• We also determined that their EDA software was not capable of the designs they were commiting to their customers.
• We helped them develop a partnership with a major EDA company for both leading edge EDA software, but also incremental staffing capacity as demand increased.
• We proposed that they move upstream into the synthesis portion of the design to reduce the back and forth redo of the design because of changes in the synthesis segment.
• We suggested that they move their Architect level people up into the selling process to get a better specification defined, and at the same time, for them to not be as flexible as they had been on changing specifications after they were frozen.

Impact:

• The selling process was reduced from one year to one-half year.
• The design process was reduced from 3-4 years to around one year.
• The volume increased over 20% in one year.
• The client was able to take on much more complex work with respect to scope and design…and was able to enter new markets as a consequence.