All of these factors taken together are designed to also provide Intel with the ability to move quickly to attain the benefits of Moore's Law as well.
Intel Manufacturing's Use of Metrics to Manage Quality and Compliance
Intel Manufacturing's Compliance and Quality Management initiatives are heavily centered on the Six Sigma DMAIC and the Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques and methodologies (English, 2004). The collection of metrics that are generated from the Six Sigma DMAIC, TQM and Compliance initiatives include capacity utilization, yield measurements, Defect Parts Per Million (PPM), and Voice of the Customer (VoC) feedback from the DMAIC process. Additionally there are scorecards generated of reliability and durability measures. All of these factors are critical during the New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) process. Overlaying quality to the NPDI process provides Figure 2.
Figure 2: NPDI Quality Process. Source: Intel Supplier Management (Intel Portal); (Intel, et.al.)
Quality and Compliance Framework
From an analysis of the Intel Quality System Handbook (Intel, et.al.), a definition of the quality planning and control definition framework emerges and is shown in Figure 3. This framework illustrates how Intel integrates compliance and quality management into the very rapid NPDI and launch processes relied on for continually attaining market leadership over time. As Intel is a technology leader in each of its core markets, this framework is particularly relevant to their approach to also using Business Process Integration (BPI) to attain further efficiencies internally.
Figure 3: Quality Planning & Control Definition Framework
Source: Based on an analysis of (Intel, et.al.)
The redefining of business processes using BPI, Business Process Management (BPM), and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is measured using the metrics of plant and foundry capacity utilization, yield measurements, and Defect...
All of these metrics are critically important for evaluating how the management of these manufacturing centers and foundries are aligning to and stay consistent with compliance and quality management initiatives within Intel. In addition to measuring compliance and the extent of variance to quality management standards, Intel also relies on the structure of Quality Function Deployment to define how their compliance initiatives will be translated into step-by-step strategies. Figure 4 provides an example of a Quality Function Deployment matrix used for this purpose.
Figure 4:
Example of a Quality Function Deployment Matrix
Source: (Intel, et.al.)
Conclusion
Intel's Manufacturing operations are centered on compliance and quality management, with Six Sigma DMIAC and TQM initiatives used for managing BPI, BPM and BPR initiatives. The metrics generated from measuring processes are used to keep manufacturing quality at the center of their unique value proposition and approach to serving Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) customers. Metrics of yield and performance of foundries is based on the minimum quality levels of processor, memory component or networking component produced. Foundries are monitored in real-time as to their yield, with quality levels being metric that dictates how much production will be sold.
References
Larry English. (2004). Six Sigma and Total Information Quality Management (TIQM); TIQM is a quality management system that focuses on business effectiveness and customer satisfaction, whether performed as a Six Sigma project or not. DM Review, 14(10), 44.
Intel. "Intel Quality System Handbook ," Intel . Intel Corporation, 2009. Web. 30 Jan 2011. Link: ftp://download.intel.com/design/Quality/iqsh.pdf
Leip, T. "Score One for Improvement. " Quality Progress 42.10 (2009): 32-38.
Ramsey, R. "are you missing out on the power of purpose?" Supervision 1 Oct. 2010.
