Change Management

        Change Proposal
        Product/Process Change Assessment and Classification
        Qualification
        Tests, Final Approval and Implementation
        More Information and Contacts

Product and process changes allow us to improve product quality and manufacturing efficiency. Before implementing a change, we must first anticipate potential problems and protect customers by fully assessing the impact and managing risks.

The change management process consists of four steps:

• Change proposal
• Product/Process change assessment and classification
• Qualification
• Test, final approval and implementation

Change Proposal
all proposed changes are evaluated, taking into consideration the effect on the product or application as well as the potential manufacturing impact. This is done through feasibility studies, experimental data analysis and risk analysis.

Product/Process Change assessment and classification
All change proposals are reviewed by the Product/Process Change Review Board. This board is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of experts, including senior engineers and management, and is responsible for evaluating, classifying, approving or rejecting all change requests. All impacted functions are represented, such as

• Product group representatives: quality, product, test, planning, operations
• Operations representatives: quality, manufacturing, process, device, equipment, test, facilities, planning, process control
• Foundries and subcontractor representatives

Changes are classified according to three categories:

Class 1: Any modification to a product or process that may impact

•  the form, fit, function, processing, quality, or reliability of a product
•  the customer supply chain
•  contractual agreements with our customers

Class 2: Changes that are not expected to impact the form, fit, function, processing, quality or reliability of a product or the customer supply chain

Customers receive a  Product/Process information  for all Class 2 changes and may contact ST for any questions or concerns about the change.

Class 3: Changes that have been verified not to affect the form, fit, function, processing, quality or reliability of a product or the customer supply chain. Customers are not notified of such changes.

Qualification
To ensure that proposal changes do not affect the product or process performance, a list of test is established within a qualification plan. This details the trials and actions required to qualify a change, allowing us to control identified risks. It includes the acceptance criteria for trial lots during parametric tests, electrical wafer sort, and final test and reliability tests.

Tests, Final Approval and Implementation
Tests are performed to check that the results/products comply with the criteria defined in the qualification plan. The Product/Process Change Review Board performs a final review of all results to approve or reject the implementation of the change.

All relevant documentation, such as manufacturing specifications, operating modes and control plans, is modified to take into account the change. Once implemented, the change is monitored to ensure the results stay consistent over time.

More Information and Contacts
For more information please contact your local sales representative or contact our technical support