Zero Defect Methodology: Is the GaAs Industry Ready?

Jan Campbell
Freescale Semiconductor CS1 Fab
2100 E. Elliot Rd., MD EL609, Tempe, AZ 85284
Email: JanCampbell@freescale.com Phone: (480)413-7427

The foundation for any quality system must be solid and secure. If a company does not have a strong foundation it will find itself constantly fighting quality issues. Automotive manufacturers have long demanded that their suppliers strive for zero defects in parts that they produce (Industrial Weekly, Oct 2003) The reason is clean: sensors that fail in airgbags, brakes and other components can cause loss of life. However, the consumer market has not yet embraced the zero defect concept, but many final users are now demanding that the parts they purchase are free of defects. “Zero Defects” was originally introduced by Crosby and first used in the automotive industry. One of the major foundations of a Zero Defect program are the 5’S” (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke), which has been used in Japan for sometime and recently introduced to the American Semiconductor industry. This paper will present one approach to introduce these methodologies to a semiconductor manufacturing facility. Together these two proven approaches to quality will ultimately change the way we do business.

Keywords: Quality, Zero Defects, Customer Satisfaction

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