CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
3 December 2007
Product News
SigmaSure 6.1 Release: Bringing "Automated Maverick Analysis" to OEMs and their Suppliers
SigmaQuest T Inc. announced its "Automated Maverick Analysis" for electronic equipment brand owners and the component supplier community. This in-depth analysis capability, available now with the newly released SigmaSure 6.1, allows electronic component developers and integrators to quickly identify which products meet the highest-performance criteria and which exhibit anomalistic characteristics, thereby resulting in higher than normal levels of failure in end-user applications.
A Maverick product is defined via the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council's EIA/JESD 50 as an atypical product that exhibits anomalistic characteristics that cause higher than normal level of failure in the end-user application. Causes of a Maverick product can vary across the entire spectrum of processes including, but not limited to, fabrication, assembly, test, packaging and handling operations. Affected populations can often go undetected until used in a final application, thereby impacting contract manufacturers, field reliability and end-user satisfaction. Yield improvement programs, as a whole, do not necessarily provide protection from Maverick products. Yet, SigmaQuest's new Maverick solution offsets these issues as it helps both OEM and their suppliers to improve and consistently make higher-quality parts. Further, the solution enables implementation and management of supplier related Maverick product elimination.
SigmaQuest's Automated Maverick Analysis provides median/mean performance deviation information on parameters like voltage, frequency, current and resistance, for complex devices ranging from ASICs, PCBs and batteries to power supplies. Parametric/performance data is automatically uploaded into a database format with easy-to-use views, including median and mean statistical diagrams, as well as tables containing detailed metrics. This data can then be utilized by OEMs and their suppliers to further refine, or narrow, key performance specifications, such as the charge time on a cell phone or the operating voltage range on a power supply.
"For today's manufacturers, having the ability to quickly determine what amount of deviation from normal specification they can tolerate is a key factor in their ability to quickly adapt to changing markets," said Al Alaverdi, vice president of customer advocacy at SigmaQuest. "A cell phone manufacturer, for example, may want cell phones that take between 25 and 50 minutes to charge. If they find though, that only a small percent of the products deviate from their ideal target of 30-35 minutes, they may opt to change this requirement and only sell the highest-performing products. Access to such valuable performance data enables the manufacturer to quickly make strategic decisions that allow them to stay ahead of the curve and the competition."
Chris Rodriguez, head of worldwide test engineering at Power-One, Inc ., a leading designer and manufacturer of power conversion products, commented, "Automated Maverick Analysis provides tremendous value as we can quickly identify marginal performing products in real time. With this knowledge, we can make best-case decisions on the individual products that will deliver optimum performance to our customers. The fact that this time-consuming analysis is now automated makes it more feasible to apply it to a wider scale of products and locations than were humanly possible beforehand. Complimented with the alerts system in SigmaQuest, we are able to address Maverick lots in an unprecedented amount of time."
"SigmaQuest has and continues to deliver the industry-best software solutions that enable original brand owners and their suppliers to quickly identify any potential product defects, prior to product shipment, which might cause end-user dissatisfaction and/or the need for product recalls," said Nader Fathi, CEO of SigmaQuest. "With the recent introduction of SigmaSure 6.1 and our new Maverick analysis capability, we are providing yet another means of allowing our customers to quickly deliver better-quality products to market."
In addition to Automated Maverick Analysis, SigmaQuest has made the following enhancements to its On-Demand software with the release of SigmaSure 6.1. These enhancements include:
• Connected View: SigmaQuest product modules Manufacturing & Test Insight, RMA & Warranty Insight and Repair/Rework Insight are now available as integrated modules. Benefits are rapid analysis of device history records and root-cause analysis.
• Support for bill-of-materials (BOM) and as-built-data. Users can now easily import their data from industry BOM solutions, such as SAP, Oracle, Agile, Arena Solutions and others. They can then track parent-child relationships as well as attributes per item such as lot number, date code, supplier, etc.
• Enhanced integrated plug-ins for Agilent ICT, X-Ray, AOI test equipment and Repair tools.
• Flexible alerts framework enables "Management by Exception," which is easy to configure and users can control/eliminate false alerts. It further supports Alert discussion forum and keeps track of alert recipients. This system now allows notification via email, SMS and/or Dashboard.
• Support for multiple time zones allows global users to collaborate around the world.
• Generic Data Mapper gives the user the power to import its own legacy data without any programming knowledge.
• Additional usability and performance improvements.
Pricing and Availability
SigmaSure 6.1 is available now to all on-demand users. Automated Maverick Analysis is available as an add-on module to Manufacturing Test Insight starting at a U.S.-list price of $2,750 per month.
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