The SEMI Quality Benchmark Consortium (QBC) met August 19–20 at Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, bringing together quality leaders from across the semiconductor industry to benchmark best practices and address common manufacturing challenges.
Fern Yoon, VP of World Quality at Texas Instruments, hosted the latest face-to-face meeting, bringing together representatives from Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, GlobalFoundries, and Intel Corporation for two days of technical discussions, benchmarking, and knowledge sharing.
The QBC operates on a "give-to-get" philosophy, with members contributing survey data and participating in open discussions to build a shared library of industry best practices. This meeting centered on three topics: audit programs, failure analysis, and multi-source fab qualification.
 The office of Jack Kilby, inventor |
The meeting opened with an overview of Texas Instruments' business, global manufacturing footprint, and quality organization. Attendees also had the opportunity to tour Jack Kilby's historic office, offering a glimpse into the legacy of the co-inventor of the integrated circuit and the innovations that helped shape the semiconductor industry.
Benchmarking Audit Programs and Quality Systems
The first benchmarking session focused on internal audit programs and quality management systems. Participants compared how their companies qualify auditors, structure audit organizations, and comply with quality management standards. The discussion also covered supplier audits, management reviews, customer audits, and ways to improve audit effectiveness while reducing duplicate effort.
Sharing Best Practices for Failure Analysis
The second session focused on Electrical-Induced Physical Damage (EIPD), Electrical Overstress (EOS), and No Trouble Found (NTF) investigations. Participants compared failure analysis workflows, stress testing methods, customer communication practices, and criteria for closing investigations.
Strengthening Multi-Source Fab Qualification
With manufacturers continuing to expand production capacity, multi-source qualification remains an important priority. Members compared strategies for technology transfer, risk assessment, customer communication, and qualification planning to demonstrate equivalent manufacturing capability across multiple fabs.
Looking Ahead
The meeting concluded with an update from the AI Product Quality Working Group, which is finalizing a white paper on AI-enabled Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Members also identified future benchmarking topics, including traceability, maverick lots, and quality at speed.
Through open benchmarking and knowledge sharing, the SEMI Quality Benchmark Consortium continues to help members strengthen quality systems, improve manufacturing performance, and advance semiconductor quality across the industry. The consortium will continue its work at the upcoming meeting to be hosted by NXP in Eindhoven.
Front row (left to right): Fern Yoon (Texas Instruments), Sumitra Sukumaran (Intel), Jens Luepke (Infineon), Lou Cerra (NXP), Roberto Lissoni (STMicroelectronics)
Back row (left to right): Karim Somani (SEMI), Mark da Silva (SEMI), Eamonn McGovern (Intel), Mark Mason (Texas Instruments), Joe Beyer (NXP), Paul Tiner (Texas Instruments), Ivo Clerici (GlobalFoundries), Wesley Hirsch (TI)
