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Semiconductor Manufacturer Reduces Product Defects and Lost Profits through Consistent Risk Assessment
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
- Electronics
- Semiconductors
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
- Predictive Quality Analytics
Services
- Data Science Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
The semiconductor manufacturer, with several business units spanning three continents, lacked a consistent process for managing risk related to the thousands of products it produces. Each business entity had its own homegrown solution, leading to inconsistency in information across the enterprise. The semiconductor business is complex due to the variety of products and the many risk analyses performed at various levels. An unmitigated risk at the smallest level could have a huge impact on something at a much higher level. The company needed a centralized operational risk management solution.
About The Customer
The customer is one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturing companies, with nearly 300 worldwide customers and 20,000 employees. The company manufactures microchips that are used in a wide variety of electronic devices, from automobiles to smartphones. The impact of a defective product can be extremely costly, ranging up to $1 billion. Therefore, the ability to identify, analyze and mitigate risks involved in product manufacturing is of the utmost importance. The company had a goal of zero defects and was in search of a better process to mitigate risks and deliver quality products to its customers.
The Solution
The company partnered with Sphera to provide a consolidated operational risk management solution. Through a series of design sessions, Sphera was able to identify the nine interrelated factors involved in risk assessment analyses and map them into a global context matrix. The centralized system and context matrix solved the issue of information in silos. Now, the company can see the impact of the risk created by local process changes at any one of their manufacturing locations on a global level. The centralized process has helped the company dramatically reduce the number of risk analyses it undertakes, while improving the quality. The company now has a much stronger process for assessing risk and identifying defects before they become even more costly.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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