Gain information about the green belt mentoring process, the projects and their combined impact on integrated circuit die production.
Advanced Technology Labs (ATL) Integrated Circuit Wafer Foundry performs a critical role in enabling production of the wide range of product solutions that contribute to Northrop Grumman’s continued performance. ATL faced a challenge to maintain pace with the anticipated growth in production requirements for a number of major programs. In an emerging new product die output was limited by the throughput, capacity and yield of manufacturing process steps. To achieve the required increase in output, ATL needed to increase the production capacity of these bottleneck processes. One way was through capital investment in incremental equipment which was very expensive and would negatively impact its value proposition. The only other choice was to find ways to increase the output from existing processes. Hear how several engineers that had enrolled in the green belt training course were enlisted to concentrate their projects on improvements to throughput, capacity and yield at ATL. The application of green belt projects on process throughput was proposed as a means to resolve the immediate program requirements. These projects were small but taken together they are making significant contributions to ATL’s die output and allowing achievement of program requirements.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide. www.northropgrumman.com
John King is a continuous improvement manager for Northrop Grumman, responsible for implementing large scale improvement projects. He is an industry veteran with experience in manufacturing, operations, supply chain and quality management in various industries. King serves on the board of directors of the Maryland World Class Consortia. He is a six sigma master black belt and a licensed professional engineer. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech, with bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering, and Loyola University of Maryland (MBA).
