Systems level approach to process improvement initiatives in a semiconductor manufacturing environment

Abstract

Many successful companies have difficulty implementing large-scale change initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, outsourcing or Advanced Process Control. This can often be due to the fact that they treat large-scale improvement efforts in the same way that they handle smaller improvement efforts. Instead the author suggests that companies should take a more systemic approach to implementing large-scale improvement efforts and handle them differently from other improvement efforts. The suggested systemic approach involves four major aspects. The first aspect is to subdivide the initiative into smaller more manageable phases. The next aspect is to analyze each of the individual steps independent of each other. From there the change agent should examine the interdependencies between different steps and assess the systemic relationships of the initiative. Finally the approach suggests ways to look at the financial impact of the large-scale effort and ways to ease its implementation. Specifically the research focused on a Fab-Wide Process Control improvement initiative at Intel's Fab 18 in Qiryat-Gat, Israel.

(cont.) The research is used to validate the suggested systemic approach as well as highlighting additional leadership challenges concerning the strategic design, cultural and political challenges an organization faces in implementing large-scale change. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to create a process by which companies can easily take a systemic approach to large-scale improvement initiatives. This should help companies with the implementation of future large-scale improvement efforts.