UMC receives Six Sigma quality award from iML

TAIWAN: United Microelectronics Corp. and Integrated Memory Logic (iML) jointly announced that UMC has received the Six Sigma Quality Award from iML in recognition of twelve continuous months of six sigma process control for iML products.

The award was presented to UMC by iML's CEO, Shuen Chang , to JH Shyu, UMC's senior vice president in charge of the foundry's 12, 8, and 6-inch fab operations, at a ceremony in Taiwan today.

Shyu said: "We are honored to receive this award from iML. We place enormous value on our relationship with iML and appreciate the acknowledgment of UMC's dedication and hard work. UMC's team is committed to pursuing excellence in order to provide customers and partners with top-quality products and unrivaled service and support each day. We look forward to continuing our productive relationship with iML."

IML currently manufactures many of its parts at UMC, including integrated circuits containing its leading edge Gamma (P-gamma) and Vcom  technology. The company closely monitors the Statistical Process Control (SPC) data for the 13 key process steps involved in the manufacture of IML products, analyzes the data and calculates the Process Capability Index (Cpk), which measures how close a process is running to its specification limits, relative to the natural variability of the process.

IML found that in the 12-month period from Mar 2012-Mar 2013, the Process Capability Index (Cpk) at Wafer Fabrication Plant 8AB used to manufacture iML products achieved a minimal rating of 2.0 (which is equivalent to a Six Sigma standard of quality) consistently across all production during the period, and in many batches achieving even higher standards.