Management and the Technology Professional – B302
Case study answer 2
Imagining myself as the supervising engineer who is responsible for step 6 (Perform Final Tests) in the manufacturing process for Intel. I have just discovered that I missed one of the tests I am responsible for, this is the first time I have experienced this problem, I decided to take a step back to access what options are available. I decided to conduct a critical path analysis of the whole manufacturing process to assess what actions are open to me to resolve this situation and consequences of those actions.
Through a critical path analysis I have conducted on the semiconductor manufacturing steps, it identified that steps 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 make up the critical path. With the critical path consisting of these steps if their duration is extended the whole completion time will be extended. As I am responsible for step 6 any delay in completion of this will delay the start and end time of step 7, in turn delaying the start and end time of step 8 and in the end delaying when the products are shipped.
To make my decision for the course of action I would undertake, I decided to draw on the previous personal experience I had gained through my work with Intel, also previous work experience where I conducted quality control at a manufacturing company I found if complete tests weren’t conducted products were delivered with faults, this caused products to be returned increasing work load, making customers unsatisfied which damaged the reputation of our department and the company as a whole. More importantly seek advice from others within the company who have more personal experience than myself such as co-workers and managers. I would also consult company document resources to find out if this situation had occurred before and see what action was taken.
I believe that there are only four options open to myself after conducting the critical path analysis and using other sources.
• Carry on with the manufacture process as if the missed test had been carried out. This would not cause a delay but the batch numbers would need to be recorded and monitored for any possible returns.
• Carry out the missing test causing a delay of the duration of that test resulting in minimal delay, but this may not be possible as step 6 might be automated meaning the system would need to be reprogrammed causing further delay in programming and calibration.
• Carry out a repeat of all of step 6 again causing delay in duration of step 6. This would hold up the manufacture process for products following this batch but the complete manufacture process would be conducted.
• Abandon the products. This would not be cost effective as they had passed all previous tests without faults identified and near completion for shipping to customers.
If one of the final tests was not carried out in the manufacturing stage it will not directly affect the semiconductor products, as they are being quality control tested to find faulty products, so the affected party would be a consumer if they found a semiconductor was faulty. The impact to the Intel Corporation if a final test is not performed during manufacture is not a direct relationship, if there are no or a low amount of returns for faults this will be manageable. If there is a medium to high rate of returns for faults, then the cost outweighs running the final test in this situation, and it might damage the reputation of the company due to faulty products and high return rates. If in an extreme case a semiconductor product failed on a critical system and the final test had not been conducted correctly then Intel would be liable for this.
The action I decided to take was to conduct the complete step 6 again for the products that missed part of the final test. This would add additional cost due to the delay in the manufacture process and conducting the final test again, these costs would be offset by the potential for high returns of faulty products and being liable for failure of product in critical systems. I believe it was not applicable to only run the missed test again as the time wasted on setting this up for the automated step would be too costly. Even if missing one of the final tests was a one off mistake, if not conducted it could result in manufacturing faults being missed and therefore proving more costly in the future. If this mistake occurred on multiple occasions then the manufacturing process would need to be looked at to ensure mistakes are not made. I believe ethically, I and Intel should strive to complete any tests that are stated to be carried out so as to keep to the framework that is submitted as the ISO standards, this would ensure their reputation is upheld and that they are known for having high quality products and standards.
In conclusion any actions reflect on myself which could affect my reputation and potentially my employment so it is critical to make a decision that I can justify with evidence and valid reasoning.
