Suppliers, both for material as well as for outsourced per of our processes, play a role in the overall quality of our products. In line with our zero defect aim, we take all the necessary steps to ensure that the same processes and procedures are applied across the entire supply chain even when this involves third parties for specific operations on ST products.
The steps involved in ensuring a seamless integration and equivalent quality can be summarized as:
When extra manufacturing capacity or new specialized materials or processes are requested, the process to select the viable suppliers starts with a series of prerequisites. Those include:
Once a supplier has proven to fulfill the above prerequisite a more detailed evaluation is performed before engaging in the final qualification. This evaluation cover items such as:
The above items are verified via on site audits by the ST organization in charge of purchasing, silicon wafer manufacturing or assembly& testing operations depending on the type of supplier.
The suppliers’ lines are qualified in line with ST internal qualification methods. This entails both product qualifications as the necessary audits on site.
All along the cooperation with our supplier we do monitor their performance as well as the compliance of the product or service provided.
The methods to control the conformance of the products are aligned to those used in our internal manufacturing plants and make extensive use of Statisti9cal Process Control and data analysis. The data collected is then used during regular reviews to highlight possible or necessary improvements in cooperation with our suppliers.
Furthermore, the performance of each supplier is reassessed with a supplier control method at least yearly. This method includes several measures like
A successful reevaluation is a mandatory condition to reconfirm the qualification to our suppliers
More Information and Contacts
For more information please contact your local sales representative or contact our technical support
