product exclusion process

Inertial sensors have continued to underpin the success of wearables in increasingly important ways. Propelled by evolutionary advancements in inertial sensors, wearables have strayed from their humble beginnings in simple activity and wellness, which defined the user experience over the past decade. What started with the simple act of telling people their daily step count has morphed to provide deeper insights into swim stroke and run cadence, all the way to mapping out a person’s off-piste ski route. Layered on top of this foundation of inertial sensors, we’ve fused optical, temperature and other sensor technology to provide clinical-grade healthcare snapshots available previously only by visiting the doctor’s office.Inertial sensors today are again leading the way in improving health and wellness. Instead of humans, however, this time the patients are machines. In fact, the health of critical assets – whether factory-based equipment, windmills, train bogies or aircraft – has been assessed through sophisticated analysis of their vibration signatures for many years. The sensors used for these applications have depended on piezoelectric technology because their vibration amplitude signals are very small and difficult to detect and because of the importance of understanding their spectral content over a wide bandwidth. When it comes to noise and bandwidth, bulk piezoceramics have had a major advantage over electrostatic MEMS technology – until recently.Using bulky expensive piezoelectric sensors for condition-based monitoring has been akin to going to the doctor’s office to have an MRI. The equipment required (sensors, receivers) is expensive and requires highly trained specialists to operate the machine and to interpret the information. For this reason, only mission-critical assets are instrumented. For nearly all other equipment, we tend to use inefficient schedule-based maintenance approaches to cover the gap of not having continuous data. Condition-based monitoring leverages real-time sensing of critical machine parameters to reduce system downtime and improve efficiency. Evolving machine healthMEMS started to democratize machine health several years ago, when suppliers began switching from piezoelectrics to capacitive MEMS. While the performance was still not on par with piezoelectric sensors, MEMS technology could already capture a wide array of faults. One example, the ADXL001, started making its way into Integrated Electronics Piezo-Electric (IEPE) and 4-20 mA sensors, which form the backbone of the vibration monitoring market. Although the bandwidth and noise of the sensor did not allow for very early detection and prescriptive monitoring, it did allow the tracking of faults as they progressed and became more imminent.Other digital accelerometers started finding their way into new wireless prototype systems with the goal to simplify and increase deployment to a greater population of assets. The thinking was that self-contained digital wireless sensor nodes could be deployed more economically and quickly, and that these digital sensors would bring the power of computing to the edge node.Unfortunately, even the lowest-noise MEMS products did not have the bandwidth needed to diagnose and predict faults early enough to influence how and when machines are maintained most economically. Instead, such devices were used to detect imminent failure to prevent irreparable harm. As we all know, however, the earlier the doctor spots a problem, the better the probable outcome. That’s because early detection increases the likelihood that the doctor will have access to the full spectrum of treatment options available to fix the problem.Inertial MEMS is blazing a new frontier with the introduction of next-generation capacitive MEMS such as the ADXL100x portfolio. Offering ultra-low noise density and high-frequency response, these newer capacitive MEMS devices fit the bill. With 3dB bandwidths up to 25 kHz and flat response curves within 0.4dB all the way to 10kHz, these accelerometers demonstrate compelling enabling characteristics such as better DC performance, improved robustness, lifetime stability, linearity, and of course, cost, making capacitive MEMS a better choice than piezoelectrics.With high-bandwidth capacitive MEMS much easier to use and deploy – as well as more affordable – the market is starting to respond. Condition monitoring equipment and instrumentation is becoming more accessible to a larger base of manufacturers. In turn, a wealth of data is being created and mined to develop better and timelier predictive and prescriptive maintenance approaches that rely heavily on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).It’s worth paying attention to the sizable condition-based monitoring market. Estimated at $3.5 billion and growing, condition-based monitoring reduces downtime and increases equipment utilization in quantifiable ways. And it’s not just manufacturers who stand to benefit. More sustainable and efficient industrial processes, safer trains that crisscross continents at ever increasing speeds, autonomous cars and trucks that know what’s happening under the hood as well as on the road, and modern infrastructure to support our evolving lives show us that condition-based monitoring has something for everyone.Learn more about Analog Devices’ condition-based monitoring signal-chain options that help customers on the journey from sensor to solution. View ADI’s whole portfolio of condition-based monitoring solutions online or download Next-Generation Condition-Based Monitoring brochure.Tzeno Galchev is product marketing manager in the Inertial Sensor Technology Group at Analog Devices Inc. He oversees the strategic marketing and product definition of the inertial sensor component portfolio. He received B.S. degrees in both Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2006 and 2010 respectively from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has over 30 publications in the area of MEMS, holds multiple patents, and is a frequent lecturer and speaker on topics related to MEMS, energy harvesting and sensors.Analog Devices is a longtime member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that enables the MEMS and sensor industry to address common challenges, innovate and accelerate business results.

U.S. Government Imposes Tariffs on $200 Billion of Goods and China Retaliates on $60 Billion of GoodsEarlier this week, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in imports from China, including more than 90 tariff lines central to the semiconductor industry.The 10 percent tariff will take effect on September 24, 2018, and rise to 25 percent on January 1. These tariff lines will cost SEMI’s 400 U.S. members tens of millions of dollars annually in additional duties. However, counting the products included in the previous rounds of tariffs, the total estimated impact exceeds $700 million annually. China has already announced that it will respond with tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods. In his notice, President Trump said the U.S. will impose tariffs on $267 billion worth of goods if China retaliates. The U.S. government removed 279 total tariff lines, including three lines that impact our industry: silicon carbide, tungsten, and network hubs used in the manufacturing process.As we’ve noted, intellectual property is critical to the semiconductor industry, and SEMI strongly supports efforts to better protect valuable IP. However, we believe that these tariffs will ultimately do nothing to address the concerns with China’s trade practices. This sledgehammer approach will introduce significant uncertainty, impose greater costs, and potentially lead to a trade war. This undue harm will ultimately undercut our companies’ ability to sell overseas, which will only stifle innovation and curb U.S. technological leadership.Product Exclusion Process – List 2USTR formally published the details for the product exclusion process for products subject to the List 2 China 301 tariffs (the $16 billion tariff list). If your company’s products are subject to tariffs, you can request an exclusion.In evaluating product exclusion requests, the USTR will consider whether a product is available from a source outside of China, whether the additional duties would cause severe economic harm to the requestor or other U.S. interests, and whether the product is strategically important or related to Chinese industrial programs (such as “Made in China 2025”).The request period ends on December 18, 2018, and approved exclusions will be effective for one year, applying retroactively to August 23, 2018. Because exclusions will be made on a product basis, a particular exclusion will apply to all imports of the product, regardless of whether the importer filed a request.More information, including the process for submitting the product exclusion request and details what information should be included in your submission can be found here. Please let me know if your company plans on filing an exclusion. SEMI has prepared a document that includes guidelines for your exclusion filing, an explainer on how to submit, and links to official government info. SEMI is glad to assist your companies file exclusion requests for your products. SEMI will continue tracking ongoing trade developments. Any SEMI members with questions should contact Jay Chittooran, Public Policy Manager at SEMI, at [email protected].

Two months after opposing $34 billion in U.S. trade tariffs on behalf of the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing industry, Jonathan Davis, global vice president of industry advocacy at SEMI, this week spoke out against an additional $16 billion in duties on Chinese goods. Testifying before the same U.S. interagency panel mulling the tariffs, Davis called for the removal of 29 tariff lines covering items critical to semiconductor manufacturing including machines and spare parts used to make, wafers, flat panel displays and masks.In his testimony to the panel, Davis stressed that while SEMI supports stronger protections against the theft of valuable intellectual property (IP), tariffs do little to address U.S. concerns over IP loss. Over the past month, SEMI has also submitted written comments and opposed the tariffs in public testimony. The panel includes representatives from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Departments of Treasury, Commerce, State and Defense, and the Council of Economic Advisers.Also testifying, Joe Pon, corporate vice president at Applied Materials, explained that the proposed tariffs will harm small and midsized companies and other U.S. business interests. Describing the tariffs as a tax on exports of high-value U.S. goods, Pon said the duties give non-U.S. firms an unfair competitive advantage.In a parallel push to Davis’s testimony, SEMI, with more than 10 representatives from six member companies, met with 16 congressional offices this week to underscore the damage the tariffs would wreak on the U.S. semiconductor industry. The fallout would include higher operating costs, fewer exports and slower innovation. The tariffs would also curb industry growth and put thousands of high-paying, high-skill jobs at risk. SEMI pressed congressional leaders to reject the tariffs and support a push for congress to re-assert itself on trade policy.Tariffs to Cost U.S. SEMI Members More than $500 MillionSEMI estimates that the second list of proposed tariffs, covering about $16 billion in Chinese goods, will cost its 400 U.S. members more than $500 million annually in additional duties.The tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods, which took effect July 6, impact products such as test and inspection equipment as well as spare parts that enter the U.S. from China. That round of tariffs will cost SEMI member companies and estimated tens of millions of dollars annually. SEMI Public Policy Team Asks Members to Review Tariff ListLooking ahead, SEMI encourages members to review the newly released $200 billion tariff list, determine any impact to their businesses and share their findings with SEMI’s public policy team.The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has published the exclusion process for products subject to the China 301 tariffs. If your company’s products are subject to tariffs, you can request an exclusion.In evaluating product exclusion requests, the USTR will consider whether a product is available from a source outside of China, whether the additional duties would cause severe economic harm to the requestor or other U.S. interests, and whether the product is strategically important or related to Chinese industrial programs (such as “Made in China 2025”).The deadline for submitting product exclusion requests to USTR is October 9, 2018. Approved exclusions will be effective for one year upon approval and retroactive to July 6, 2018.More information including the process for submitting the product exclusion request can be found here.Any SEMI members with questions should contact Jay Chittooran, Public Policy Manager at SEMI, at [email protected].