You are in: Expertises-Concise
Selected Consulting and Training Services
The services offered below in each of the ten primary expertise areas don’t cover our services potential in full. They are a concrete selection of most important issues to be dealt with in each expertise area throughout the product development cycle along with the needed quality and reliability assurance and management requirements to be met in order to provide assurance that the customer needs are reflected in the established, agreed new product design.
Primary Expertise Areas Concise: Selected Consulting and Training Services 1)
New product design and development
New process design and development
Reliability engineering and management
Quality assurance – Independent, within functional areas
Materials and devices engineering and characterization
Technology transfer – Assessment and execution of licensing agreement
Quality management system – Engineering and management
Technical due diligence and other assessments
1) see the comprehensive version on Page “Expertises-Detailed”
New Product Design and Development
Preparation of due diligence assessments including technical feasibility studies, product competitive analyses.
Development of performance and reliability specifications and requirements.
Definition of performance parameters and test criteria.
Creation of a reliability assurance program.
Reliability analysis.
Numerical modelling of the device.
Optimization of materials and device structures.
Optimization of performance and reliability.
Achievement of an optimum balance between performance and cost.
Quality assurance during product development: concepts, techniques, tools employed, including.
Phase concept of product development, cost-effectiveness concept, early warning concepts along with special quality-oriented tools, producibility analysis, process capability, design reviews, audit of product development.
Planning and execution of test programs / integrated test programs under operational conditions.
Configuration and engineering change control.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
New Process Design and Development
Development and optimization of manufacturing process including
Process design: physical facilities; associated software; info on how to operate, control, maintain the facilities.
Provision of the facilities.
Establishment of statistical process controls (
Establishment of development risk control programs regarding, cost, schedule and technical risk.
Optimization and proof of process capability and process variability.
Establishment of a manufacturing reliability improvement program.
Prevention of design reliability degradation by the manufacturing process.
Establishment of quality plans / manufacturing control programs including.
Manufacturing data system adequate to report defects / yields. Quality engineering, in-process audit inspection and control program. Quality reporting system. QA failure analysis system. Yield control program.
Quality control and assurance during process development: Concepts, techniques, tools employed, including
Design review, process capability analysis. Preproduction trials / runs. FMEA for processes. Review of manufacturing planning (checklist) including process certification, requiring review of: documentation, test / process equipment, manufacturing operations, product quality / yield levels, product performance / qualification testing.
Audit of the quality and manufacturing programs to identify any outstanding issue related to product performance, process variation, manufacturability assessment, and process stability.
Planning of process / product controls: control stations, activities, data collection / feedback, adjustment.
Evaluation of proposed control tools, self-control analysis.
Measurement and test equipment / Quality information equipment (QIE):
Design, construction, procurement of QIE.
Planning for product effectiveness parameters including, reliability, maintainability (e.g. calibration, preventive maintenance), accuracy and precision, operating instructions and training of personnel.
Reduction of product transition risks from development to production through
Identification and establishment of critical engineering processes and their risk control methods.
Assurance of design maturity, measurement of test stability, certification of manufacturing processes.
Audit of production quality.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Program / Project Management
Review of the effectiveness of project and product development stages.
Along with the associated project / product monitoring and control processes and systems.
Issues management. Issue resolution. Defect prevention.
Process quality assurance, as regards project execution and processes supportive for project execution, e.g.
Configuration management, supplier agreement management.
Exception reviews as regards the probability of project cancellation / project putting on hold
Establishment of development risk control programs regarding cost, schedule and technical risk.
Product development program management including an effective management of change.
Review / assurance of the effectiveness of existing development risk control programs.
Reduction of product transition risks from development to production within a complex development program.
Identification /establishment of critical engineering processes and their risk control methods.
Assurance of design maturity, measurement of test stability, certification of manufacturing processes including
Design for production and proof of process during pilot production.
Development of a value engineering program with the multiple benefit of quality enhancement, including
Improvement of design reliability, producibility and manufacturing techniques.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Reliability Engineering and Management
Definition of reliability objectives.
Development of a reliability assurance program.
Establishment of a vendor reliability program to assure supplier quality.
Definition of a reliability growth monitoring program.
Design and conduct training sessions to engineering staff about reliability concepts, techniques, tools.
Prepare and conduct FMEA sessions to identify, remedy and document failure modes early in a project.
Implementation of a quality assurance failure analysis system.
Advise and support root-cause analyses of failed devices.
Establishment of a manufacturing reliability improvement program.
Advise on physics of device degradation modes.
Assure that design reliability is not degraded by the manufacturing process, covering evaluating areas such as:
Procurement practices, facilities and equipment, manufacturing processes, operator / inspection capability, storage / handling operations including procedures / instructions used in each of these areas.
Development / implementation of a failure reporting and corrective action system (FRACAS).
Development of a reliability engineering program with associated benefits and a high problem-solving potential.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Quality Assurance – Companywide, within Functional Areas
Providing full QA of quality and reliability management throughout product progression, including
QA of the adequacy of product designs, process designs, and quality planning along with
All aspects of quality performance after final testing (packing, transport, storage, usage, maintenance).
Prepare and make available to customers the proof that the product is fit for use, comprising
A formal plan, specifying for all phases of product progression how fitness for use can be achieved.
A system of reviews to verify that the QA Plan, if followed, will result in fitness for use.
A system of audits to verify that the plans are actually being followed.
A system to provide data on the quality achieved.
Conduct of functional QA throughout development cycle, from marketing through to customer use, including
Marketing: Competitive assessments. Feasibility studies.
Product design development: Design review. Reliability analysis. Value engineering.
Supplier quality: Surveys. Quality surveillance. Technical support to improve QC program. Materials review.
Process design development / production: Design review. Process capability analysis. Preproduction trials / runs. FMEA for processes. Review of manufacturing planning. Process certification and control. Audit of production quality.
Inspection and test: Materials, processes, products. Test / measurement equipment. Inspector accuracy.
Customer relations: Qualification tests. Product auditing. Reliability assurance. Quality oriented assistance. Data feedback.
Consulting and training: Design / conduct training courses in various quality-oriented skills / tools. Analysis of chronic quality problems. Reliability analysis. Data collection, analysis, interpretation.
Verification activities, to confirm that, for example,
Design qualification has been accomplished.
Manufactured product meets established workmanship standards and conforms to specifications.
QA and manufacturing process data are analyzed to uncover needs for corrective actions.
Design changes have been incorporated and configuration accounting being accurate.
Conduct of quality reviews to verify the effectiveness of QC and QA programs / systems, such as
Design assurance program. Reliability assurance program. Yield control program. Quality cost program. Corrective action programs. Quality audit program and quality information feedback.
QA failure analysis system. Quality information system.
Review of design change control processes and the effectiveness of configuration management.
Conduct of quality surveys for detecting opportunities and unexpected threats, spanning the spectrum of functional departments involved in New Product Progression, including issues such as:
Examination of the product design specs from the standpoint of product fitness for use, completeness and freedom from ambiguity.
Examination of the manufacturing specifications and procedures, for similar reasons.
Review of customer quality complaints and action taken in diagnosis and remedy.
Study of inspection performance, inspector accuracy, test equipment accuracy, and other aspects of inspection integrity.
Product auditing, after completion of inspections: prior to shipment and thru to performance in field, comprising
Product reliability assurance tests and periodic sample reliability tests.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Materials and Devices Engineering and Characterizationª
Materials design, device design and modelling of semiconductor and superconductor devices:
Materials, including: Semiconductor wafers –
Devices, including: Quantum well laser diodes 670 – 1300nm. Non-absorbing mirrors. Light-emitting diodes. Electro-absorption modulators. Mode expanders. Resonant tunnelling diodes. MESFETs and MOSFETS. Superconducting tunnel junctions and circuits.
Use of software packages such as, ASTAP, BeamPROP, PICS3D, LASTIP, Matlab to model electrical, optical, thermal device characteristics.
Measurements include parameters such as: Semiconductor wafer quality uniformity. Laser mirror temperatures. Temperatures along laser cavity. Temperature-monitored laser degradation. Mechanical stress. Stress-induced defects. Deep traps / impurity identification, concentration and location. Contaminant mapping. Chemical and elemental analysis. Impurity trapping in quantum well lasers. Interface quality. Lattice disorder in laser facets. Laser mirror coating material instability. Silicon recrystallization effects. Magnetic penetration depths in thin superconducting films. Spatial uniformity of superconducting tunnel junction barrier.
Correlations between material properties and relevant device parameters to enhance device quality.
Examples include: Triple correlation between structural / compositional disorder in laser mirrors, laser mirror temperatures and catastrophic optical mirror damage level. Correlations between local stress, defect concentration, electron-beam-induced-current signal and strength of susceptibility to local laser degradation. Correlations between tunnel barrier uniformity and optimum performance of Josephson tunnel junctions used in superconducting driver and memory circuits.
Reliability qualifications including setting up test programs and failure analysis strategies as required.
Programs comprise step stress tests, accelerated life tests (current, optical power, temperature, humidity), burn-in, environmental stress tests, temperature cycling, high temperature storage life, moisture sensitivity assessment level, electrostatic discharge and latch-up tests.
Failure analyses include techniques and tools such as optical microscopy, electron microscopies (
Recommendation of experimental approaches to differentiate bad devices with inherent low reliability from good devices with high reliability without performing any life tests.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
ª For more details, see Page “Originalities” about “Issue Resolution through Innovative Experiments on Materials and Devices”.
Manufacturing / Process Equipment. Multiple-Functions Laboratories – Planning, Establishment, Operations –
Planning, specification, purchase, establishment and quality assurance of manufacturing and process equipment including optimal facilities for epitaxial crystal growth, front-and back-end-of-line along with quality information equipment (QIE) for new product design and development, comprising equipment for metrology, inspection, test, and quality control of materials, product and process.
Other elements of equipment and work methods planning to be considered include:
Capability demonstration, validation / acceptance test for hardware and software of purchased equipment at customer’s facility, using customer’s personnel and customer’s operating conditions to approve final demonstration.
Providing for preventive maintenance of equipment with the relevant planning to determine how often the preventive maintenance is necessary, what form it should take and how processes should be audited to assure that preventive maintenance schedules are followed.
Planning for a controlled process environment through establishing clean-room specifications / certification procedures to be followed, to meet stringent regulations / standards stipulated by law.
Design, set-up, running and management of state-of-the-art metrology, device test, reliability test and failure analysis laboratories for characterizing, testing, analyzing and validating semiconductor and superconductor materials, discrete devices and complex integrated circuits.
From one-off measurements to complex problem solving through to R&D programs and bespoke R&D projects, and across the entire technology / product development processes.
Development of innovative techniques for the resolution of specific material and device issues.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Technology Transfer – Assessment and Execution of Licensing Agreement
Technology due diligence assessments, including potential markets, competitors and substitutes, as regards
The potential of the relevant patented technology to disrupt the market.
Execution of licensing agreements to industries (for commercial development) as regards
The transfer of skills, physical facilities and infrastructure, and intellectual property (know-how), along with the
Development of suitable documentation to facilitate knowledge transfer and ensure training of staff in the new technology,
Development, writing and issuing user and support manuals to accompany and facilitate the facilities transfer along with adequate tutorials and on-the-job training.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Quality Management System – Engineering and Management
QMS Engineering: development, implementation of an audible QMS. Preparation for ISO 9001certification.
Strategic planning incl. establishing timeline, assessing relevant training needs.
Gap analysis based on audits and reviews, and corrective action, including
Process / document corrective actions, training of personnel / management, change effectiveness verification.
Implementing a document structure.
Document development and writing including quality manual, procedures / instructions, plans.
Instituting documents and quality records controls / configuration control.
Site preparation for the certification audit.
Quality System Management
Overall management of all QC, QA and quality improvement activities to provide ongoing assurance of
Effective QMS engineering and certification processes.
Configuration / design change management including baseline documentation system.
Assurance of supplier quality and effectiveness of materials management.
Customer relations: Identifying customer needs for quality oriented assistance; develop responsive plans.
Establishing procedures for maintaining high standards of reliability and quality.
Assurance that all activities necessary to design, develop, and implement a product or service.
Are effective and efficient with respect to the system and its performance.
Covering quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement (product, process, people based).
Implementation of Statistical Process Control (
Development and implementation of QC / QA programs, including
Manufacturing data system adequate to report defects and yields.
QA failure analysis system, and a database for device selection.
Defect prevention program.
Corrective action programs.
Quality system audit program and quality information feedback.
Yield control program.
Quality cost program.
Quality information system spanning the spectrum of functional departments with emphasis on fitness for use, incl. product design test, process, final inspection, field performance data, product and systems audit results.
Consulting assistance to senior management and QMS related training services, including
Analyze cost of poor quality; and identify major areas for improvement.
Stimulate creation of companywide approaches to quality improvement.
Analysis of chronic quality problems, reliability analysis, data collection and analysis.
Design and conduct training courses in various quality-oriented skills and tools / all functions, all levels.
Providing for continuously measuring and monitoring customer product quality satisfaction, including
Adequate level of inspection and testing as a basis for immediate corrective action.
Conduct QMS related surveys regarding questions such as:
Has an estimate been made about the cost of poor quality.
Is there an effective system for having early warnings of potential quality problems.
See also: “Acting in advisory / training capacities” at end of relevant sector in Page “Expertises Detailed”
Technical Due Diligence and other Assessments #
For supporting decisions about emerging market opportunities / merger and acquisitions.
Technical due diligence, including
A critical evaluation of the technology, including its strengths and weaknesses.
An analysis of state of the art developments and comparisons.
A review of related and competitive technologies (competitive assessments).
An evaluation of intellectual property including patenting position and possible infringements.
Upon completion of the technology assessment, an easy-to-read written report will be provided (unless otherwise requested), summarizing the technology assessment findings.
The report will include conclusions and recommendations as well as documented references supporting the findings.
Technology assessments.
Comprehensive assessment of different technological approaches.
Competitive analysis.
Feasibility studies.
# For more details, see Page “Deliverables”
Copyright and responsibility for this Website © 2008-10 Dr. Epperlein,
