1. © John Glenning 2014
Process Yield and
Productivity Improvement
Strategy
John Glenning
September 1, 2014

2. © John Glenning 2014
SAFETY:
“Safety First”
Safety is everybody's job
Try to eliminate at least 1 safety issue a week. In one year, you will have
eliminated over 50 potential safety issues
A Safety issue could be the water that is on the floor that could be a slip
hazard or a sharp corner on a machine that could be a scrap hazard.
Look for loose wires, unsupported pipes, open cutting blades, unsupported
cabinets, etc… and fix them
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

3. © John Glenning 2014
YIELDS VS DEFECTS
Do not focus on the yield. Yield is an “effect”, not a “cause”
If you reduce/eliminate defects, yields will eventually improve
Most defect inspections are “first defect found” and that is labelled the cause
of the defective product
First defect found does not find the most common defect. It finds the easiest
defect to inspect for.
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

4. © John Glenning 2014
YIELD VS DEFECTS-UNLAYERING THE PRODUCT
If a part has one defect or 100 defects, the part is defective
Count all the defects and their numbers.
Focus on the top total defect category and eliminate that defect category.
This is the shortest path to yield improvement.
Then continue on the next top defect
Keep doing this and yields will increase
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

5. © John Glenning 2014
“THE LOW HANGING FRUIT”
The “Low Hanging Fruit” is where you have problems that are obvious and
quick and easy to solve. Solve these first.
Top of the list is the Equipment operating improperly and is not it being
properly maintained. Next on the list is Handling Damage.
You have made the product correctly and then damaged the product. Work
with the Operations Team to understand why handling is important and how
they should be handling the product(s)
Use the Operators for ideas or observations. They are on the “front lines”
and know what is happening.
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

6. © John Glenning 2014
Understand your chemistries
Identified the chemistry conditions that give consistently stable product (find
the “flat spots” on the curve)
Understand how the chemistries are controlled
Consider using Redundant Sensors
Redundant sensors are early warning signs of problems
If both sensors are tracking in the same directions, you could have a process,
equipment or chemistry problem
If both sensors are tracking in different directions or magnitude, you have a
sensor problem
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

7. © John Glenning 2014
OPTIMIZING YOUR PROCESSES
1. Start Out small.
2. Use the Operators to help identify key variables. They know what are
important.
3. Run DOEs (Design of Experiments)
4. Identify key process variables through Regression Analysis
5. Follow up with a “Method of Steepest Assent” experiments
6. Keep running this until product yields start to increase
7. This is your new processing conditions
8. Consider Repeating this cycle
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

8. © John Glenning 2014
ATTAINMENT
Attainment is the point in process improvement, where it does not make
economic sense for the business to improve the Process
Here, the cost of the improvement is greater than the additional revenue to
the business
A first sign of Attainment is key metrics (like yield) have topped off
In and of itself, yield topping off does not necessary mean you have reach
Attainment
On the other hand, if yields, as an example, are at 95% and you are seeing
no further improvements, it is a reasonable assumption that you have
reached Attainment
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

9. © John Glenning 2014
ATTAINMENT
Attainment may include the following:
On-Time Delivery to Commit
Manufacturing Cycle Time
Time to Make Changeovers
Yield
Incoming Supplier Quality
Throughput
Capacity Utilization
Equipment Effectiveness
Scheduling
WIP Inventory/Turns
Planned vs. Unplanned Maintenance
New Product Introduction
Energy Cost
On-Time delivery
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

10. © John Glenning 2014
CRITICAL SPARES LIST
Lean Theory says that you keep what you need in the plant for immediate
needs. This can breakdown if unexpected problems suddenly occur, like
unexpected equipment failure or a problem with a key supplier.
Critical Spares list includes:
1. Machine
1. Module in machine
2. Location in the module
3. Number needed
4. Supplier
5. Lead time
6. Minimum inventory
7. Part number
8. Cost
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

11. © John Glenning 2014
THE VISUAL FACTORY
You should be able to quickly look around and quickly assess if there are
problems on the floor
Things to look for:
1. Inventory of spare parts vs reorder point
2. Inventory of raw material vs reorder point
3. Inventory of chemicals vs reorder point
4. What products are where in production
5. High Price Spares vs unplanned downtime-Business Decision
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

12. © John Glenning 2014
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
The regular introduction of new and upgraded products is critical for any
business to keep growing and expanding.
Always be in close contact with you customers to understand their needs and
wants.
Always be in close contact with you suppliers to understand future needs
This gives the business time to plan what is needed for the future.
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

13. © John Glenning 2014
DON’T LISTEN TO WHAT THEY SAY, LISTEN TO THE WORDS THEY CHOOSE:
An Engineer’s people skills, often are more important than their technical
skills.
It is important to listen to the people on the floor. They will tell you what is
going on in a “folksy way”. Ask opened questions. You can get a lot of good
information.
Share credit generously. Everyone wants to be a part of successes.
Process Yield and Productivity Improvement
Strategy

14. © John Glenning 2014
END OF PRESENTATION