EKC Technology Earns Recommendation for QS9000 Quality Registration
HAYWARD, Calif.--Dec. 4, 2001Semiconductor Supplier Earns Recommendation at Hayward, California and East Kilbride, Scotland Manufacturing Facilities; QS9000 Emphasizes Product Quality Planning and Business Planning Above and Beyond ISO9000
EKC Technology, a ChemFirst Inc. company, has been recommended for QS9000 quality registration at both its Hayward, California and East Kilbride, Scotland facilities. The QS9000 standard, developed by the automotive industry, emphasizes much more product quality and business planning than do the ISO quality standards.
EKC Technology was ISO certified in March 1994. To maintain a leading edge in customer satisfaction and product innovation, the company adopted the QS9000 business model because it places a greater emphasis on designing quality into their products from the beginning of the product development process. EKC views the more rigorous standards of the QS quality model, the ultimate quality standard in today's manufacturing world, as a natural progression in the company's continuous improvement efforts.
Many IDMs (Integrated Device Manufacturers) have begun to make reference to the QS9000 certification, although they have not pushed it to the supplier level, as the automotive industry has done. EKC is one of the first chemical manufacturers in the semiconductor industry to gain QS9000 certification.
There are three distinct differences in QS quality registration compared to ISO certification: advanced product quality planning (APQP), production part approval process (PPAP) and business planning.
"Comparing ISO standards to QS standards, customer needs are much more clearly identified and met in the design and commercialization of the product in the QS9000 standard," commented Bob Sherrill, EKC's Quality Assurance Manager. The APQP process is addressed through Product Planning Teams at EKC, consisting of individuals from manufacturing, R&D, quality, sales and engineering who all bring the "voice of the customer" into the product planning process.
PPAP is a set of analysis tools, including Design FMEA (failure mode effects analysis) and Process FMEA, that help prove the product does what it was designed to do and that it can be manufactured consistently.
Also, QS9000 registration requires a formal business plan and brings business planning into the quality process. "These are the things we do anyway as we plan our business," commented Sherrill, "and now they are part of our documented quality procedures."
EKC expects that the stricter documentation of QS9000, which has more structure, detail and risk analysis, will reduce cycle times to develop and commercialize new products and improve manufacturing efficiencies of current products.
EKC Technology was recommended on October 18 for registration by SGS Yarsley, the British branch of SGS International, and expects the formal certification to arrive in four to six weeks from that time. Both the Hayward and East Kilbride facility earned separate and distinct registrations.
EKC was subsidized by the state of California to go through the transition from ISO to QS certification and assisted in that process by an organization named Manex. Manex's role in the EKC project was to help them identify employee training needs, providing state funding and management assistance of the administrative requirements.
About EKC Technology
EKC Technology, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ChemFirst Inc., is a worldwide supplier of high purity, patented proprietary chemicals for wafer cleaning, surface preparations, CMP and photoresist/post-etch residue removal for the semiconductor industry. ChemFirst produces chemicals for semiconductors and polyurethanes and intermediate chemicals for a variety of applications and is listed on the New York stock exchange under the trading symbol CEM. EKC Technology, Inc. serves the semiconductor industry from facilities in Hayward, CA, East Kilbride, Scotland (EKC Technology, Ltd.) and near Tokyo, Japan (EKC Technology, K.K.). Please visit www.ekctech.com for more information.
About Manex
Manex provides California manufacturers with affordable consulting services that focus on process improvement, manufacturing operations and business development, with a commitment to helping them evolve, improve and grow. The Training Services Department at Manex assists eligible companies in developing customized training programs, offering immediate and simplified access to state funding. Contact Sallyanne Monti, Manex Training Services Manager (510/249-1480 ext. 125) for more information.