Productivity Improvement Using Lean Six Sigma Techniques : A Case Study At Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturer

Semiconductor equipment manufacturer operates in a high mix low volume environment where the products are produced according to customer specification. Company A in this project is a semiconductor equipment manufacturer that currently manufacture test handler MX in Malaysia. The current leadtime to assemble the MX test handler is 14 days. It is a challenge to meet customer requirements as the order received is more than the capacity. The purpose of this study is to improve the productivity by lead-time reduction. Lean Six Sigma approach is being deployed to achieve the objective. DMAIC framework of Six Sigma is used to analyze the critical non-value added and not necessary activities. In the meantime, qualitative data is collected. The assembly time per activity is collected with time study and categorized into three categories. Factors causing non-value added and not necessary activities such as NCR process, quantity check, reporting, damaged part etc are identified. Qualitative analysis is achieved through interview with assembly personnel and leaders to identify rootcauses for the factors. Proposal to improve or eliminate the non-value added and not necessary activities are derived based on lean approaches