Samsung semiconductors

Samsung semiconductors Introduction Samsung Semiconductors is a leader in semiconductor electronics worldwide. Samsung Semiconductors is a leader in electronic components like DRAM and SRAM memory chips, flash memory components, thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels and screens, and system LSI products (digital technologies for home and mobile applications). These components are used in a wide range of applications, including computers, consumer electronics, and industrial equipment. Samsung semiconductors is part of Samsung Group, a Korea based international conglomerate. Samsung Group is an international conglomerate corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung is involved in a wide range of businesses, from consumer electronics to petrochemicals, from advertising to life insurance. Business is divided into various industry groups including electronics industries, machinery heavy industries, chemical industries, financial services and other affiliated companies. Quality plays a very important role in a business like semiconductors, where, even a minor quality issue could potentially cause a lot of damage to reputation and the products that use this product. This study focuses on the Quality management program at Samsung, its certifications, its policy etc. The study also investigates the quality management system at Samsung through an audit. Company Background (http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/aboutus/AboutUs_Profile.html) Founded in 1974, Samsungs Semiconductor Business started with the acquisition of Hankook Semiconductor. Initially the operations started as developing and mass producing ICs and peripherals for consumer electronics like LED watches, televisions, audio players and microwave ovens. In 1983, Samsungs evolved into a leading semiconductor manufacturer with the successful development of the 64Kb DRAM. Subsequently Samsung opened the Giheung Semiconductor Complex, its first memory fabrication facility in 1984. Since then, Samsung has been consolidating its position in the semiconductor segment. Samsung has been the market leader in Memory since 1993, and in NAND Flash since 2003. In 2001, the company expanded its System LSI Division and the opened its SoC Research Lab and signalled its long term commitment to logic and analog chip development. Samsung defines its vision as Creating the Future: There is no waiting for the future it must be created. Accomplishments must be recognized, but we must quickly move on to new frontiers in developing even better and more innovative products and technologies. We must be nomads in the sense that we are never satisfied with past successes and accomplishments, but are continuously searching for new areas to explore and develop The business is divided into three major divisions: Memory: The Memory division designs and manufactures integrated circuits for storing digital information. Since the time it developed worlds first 64 GB NAND chip in 1992, Samsung Electronics has maintained its leading position in NAND flash memory. Samsung was the first company to apply 40nm-class process technology in mass producing DRAM. It has also diversified into fast growing segments like mobile devices and game consoles, with its proprietary OneDRAMà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, OneNANDà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and Flex-OneNANDà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, and distinctive MCP (multi-chip package) solutions. Samsung also pioneered the development of Solid State Drives (SSDs), when it introduced its first 32GB SSD (PATA) in March 2006, followed by a 64GB SSD in June 2007, 128GB SATA II SSD in July 2008 and 256GB MLC-based SSD began in November, 2008. System LSI: The System LSI division designs and manufactures application specific devices, micro components, logic ICs, analog ICs and image sensors. The division caters to 3 major market areas mobile solutions, home media solutions, and ASIC foundry services. Intends to focus on five strategic products areas DDI, CIS, mobile application processor, chip card IC and media player IC. Storage: The Storage division designs and manufactures hard drives. These devices are used in notebook PCs, desktop PCs and consumer electronics. The smaller sized hard disk drives like the 1.8 drive are used in personal media players, cell phones, PDAs, navigators, MP3s and other mobile applications. Also has a line up of high capacity external hard disk drives. The Semiconductor Business has 15 production facilities around the world. It has fabs in Giheung and Hwaseong, Korea (near Seoul), and in Austin, Texas, while the IC assembly plants are in Onyang, Korea and Suzhou, China. Also operates 10 hard-drive manufacturing facilities in Gumi, Korea, which boasts of highest quality production, with automation that enables it to rapidly adapt to future technologies. RD and Patents: Samsung focus on RD is emphasised by the fact that, of the companys 33,500 employees based in Korea, over 30% have work duties dedicated to research and development. The company also has research centers in San Jose (California), Suzhou (China), Yokohama (Japan), Bangalore (India), and Tel Aviv (Israel). The company has invested US$6.3 bn in RD in 2008 which is around 9.5% of its annual sales. Samsung Electronics has registered 3,515 US patents in 2008, a 29.0% increase over 2007. Quality Management Quality is defined as a measure of the level of excellence or standard of a product or service. Quality management is defined as ongoing effort to provide services that meet or exceed customer expectations through a structured, systematic process for creating organizational participation in planning and implementing quality improvements. (gapproject.org, 2009) (http://www.qaproject.org/methods/resglossary.html) Quality management has three main components: quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. It is focused not only on product quality, but also the means to achieve it and therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality. Quality control: Quality control is defined as a process employed to ensure a certain level of quality in a product or service. This might include any actions that a business might feel necessary to provide to ensure control and verification of certain characteristics of a product or service. The aim of quality control is to ensure that the products, services, or processes provided meet specific requirements and are dependable, satisfactory, and correct. The task assigned to a quality control team in an organization is to identify products or services that do not meet a specific standard of quality and act accordingly. Quality control sometimes is used not only for products, services, and processes, but also for people. These are specially used in service oriented industries. Sometimes quality control is mistaken for quality assurance. The difference is that while Quality control is concerned with the product, Quality assurance is process-oriented. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-qu ality-control.htm) Quality Assurance: Quality assurance (QA) is the process which involves the testing of products or services to make sure that they meet or exceed quality expectations. It refers to a series of tasks that involve systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service, or facility to ensure that standards of quality are consistently met. It generally involves guidelines on the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components; services related to production; and management, production and inspection processes. Quality Improvement: Quality improvement is defined by ISO as a part of quality management focused on increasing the ability to fulfil quality requirements. The International Standards Organization is a certifying authority on quality management. The family of ISO 9000 standards represents an international consensus on good quality management practices, consisting of standards and guidelines relating to quality management systems and related supporting standards. The ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9000:2008 series are based on eight quality management principles. These include Customer focus, Leadership, Involvement of people, Process approach, System approach to management, continual improvement, Factual approach to decision making and Mutually beneficial supplier relationships. (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_standards/iso_9000_iso_14000/qmp.htm) Quality at Samsung (http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/support/qualitymanagement/support_QualityDocumentSystem_Audit.html) Samsung electronics defines its Quality Policy as It is our Quality Policy that we deliver on the basis of an effective quality system the best products and services that exceed our customers requirements and expectations. Samsung Electronics has been the leader in the industry in quality standards since 1993, when the company first received top-level (ISO9001) certification of its plants in Korea. Over the years all domestic and overseas semiconductor sites of Samsung are ISO 9000 certified. The System LSI business unit also acquired the QS 9000 in 1999. Samsung certification milestones include: 1993: ISO9001 for semiconductor plants in Korea 1999: ISO 9002 for semiconductor plants in Austin, Texas; and Suzhou, China 1999: QS9000 for System LSI plant in Korea 2001: TL9000 certification of all semiconductor plants in Korea 2002: QS9000 certification for memory business, assembly and test plants in Korea 2004: ISO/TS16949 certification for Memory System LSI division, assembly and test plants in Korea 2005: ISO/TS16949 certification for semiconductor plants in Suzhou, China 2008 ISO/TS16949 certification for semiconductor plants in Austin, Texas Samsung implements continuous improvement through a closed loop methodology consisting of a selection of critical parameters, evaluation of the measurement system, monitoring of critical parameters, process capability improvement, and reaction plan. The main objective of this is minimizing the variation around the target. Activities: At its facilities, Samsung uses the following techniques for Real Time Monitoring for Special Causes: Interlock System: Samsung continuously monitors products and processes and controls them by automatic interlock systems throughout the manufacturing process In the FAB, it has implemented a three stage protection system: Process Recipe Interlock (Incoming Materials and Recipe Check), Equipment Parameter Interlock and Process Output Interlock In the wafer sort process, wafers are statistically monitored based on various test results and yields before assembly Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Advanced Process Control (APC): Samsung has implemented an advanced SPC system suitable for semiconductor manufacturing processes. The control is used for random trend monitoring. It includes short run, small change detecting, particle, and multivariate SPC modules. The APC system includes real time control and run-to-run control, which is successfully used for controlling deterministic process behaviours For common cause activities which are implemented in company-wide Improvement Projects, Samsung uses the following techniques: FAB Equivalency Copy Intelligently: Implements Samsung Equivalence Test program, which checks the equivalency and non-equivalency of measurement data of output characteristics from Copy Intelligently activities The purpose of this activity is to lead it to standardize the output characteristics between lines or equipment Statistical Post Processing: implements statistical analysis on test results at wafer sort. This not only optimizes test effort but also gives useful information such as potential reliability and yield. With statistical approach, wafers or dies with latent risks are effectively screened and dies are binned according to potential risks Virtual Metrology and Modelling: Implements virtual metrology to construct predictive models that can forecast the electrical/physical parameters of wafers based on data collected from processing equipment. Using this process can eliminate actual measurements from wafers. This combined with the APC leads to a shift from Lot-to-Lot control to Wafer-to-Wafer control Samsung feels that employs are very important in quality management. In order to equip employees with the required skills for maintaining quality, Samsung organises Quality Education Training courses. These courses are targeted towards improvement of employees quality awareness and statistical skills. It offers employees multiple chances to apply for an examination of international Quality Reliability Engineer license. It also encourages its employees to apply for CRE(Certified Reliability Engineer) CQE(Certified Quality Engineer) and several other ASQ Certifications. In the year 2009, 47 engineers obtained CRE licenses and 55 obtained CQE licenses at Samsung. Quality Audit Quality audit is defined as a review in which a designated auditor analyzes and verifies various records and processes relating to a companys quality program. The objective of a quality audit is to determine whether the company under observation is complying with its quality program or whether it needs to make any amendments to its business practices. Sometimes companies also perform a quality audit in order to know whether it is complying with certain quality standards, like those set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000. Usually, a quality audit is generally conducted by an independent auditor or internal team of auditors who have expertise in the area. Typically in a quality audit, involves the following steps. The designated auditor will first formulates a system audit plan, which usually details the timeline, scope, location of the audit, any written documentation that will need to be reviewed as well as any interviews that will need to be conducted. Then he meets with individuals at the company who are responsible for the companys quality program, examines any applicable records and checks if the companys businesses practices align with its written quality program. If the investigation suggests that the company is not following the written quality program, he would document the information accordingly. The report generally contains a summary of all of the evidence that was reviewed. Audits are of three types. Third Party Audits, which are done by an independent and recognised audit organisation, second party audit, which are conducted by those people who have a high interest in the final outcome of the audit and first party audits, which are done only internally. Quality Audit at Samsung (http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/support/qualitymanagement/support_QualityDocumentSystem_Audit.html) (Not rephrased as this is actual policy) SBQA (SAMSUNG Semiconductor Business Quality Award): It is the system under which the audit is conducted for all business units and sites and for each unit of the team/division/line units. The audit is conducted once a year to ensure the provision of information at the quality management level and is mandated to improve all related areas based on the customer satisfaction index of each unit in each development and production area. Corporate Theme Audit: It is the system under which the audit is conducted at the corporate level to diagnose and improve weak areas at the corporate level and to prevent the occurrence of accidents. Supplier Audit: It is the system under which the audit is conducted to ensure improvement by providing new certification, the ratings, and the incentives for suppliers. Audit Information Control Infrastructure: The Company conducts an integrated control of all information generated from the establishment stage of the audit plan until it is closed upon its conclusion. Audit Implementation The following are the steps followed in conducting the audit. First task was to plan the audit. Then this followed by designing a questionnaire. The questionnaire used in my audit is as detailed in Appendix-1. The next step was to perform the audit. It involved taking permission from different people to help in taking part in the audit. This step also involves being familiar with the questions on the questionnaire so that one can be more efficient in collecting the evidence in this regard. I have audited the company by exchanging views some people who are involved in the Samsung quality monitoring process. Also I have used inputs from various employees and customers through a series of questions posed to them about their knowledge of quality at Samsung. The next part after conducting the audit, I summarised all the audit results, so that it gave me more information as to how things were working and also gave me an opportunity to see if I have completed gathering information on all th e questions on the checklist. The most important step was next-evaluating the audit which was conducted. This involved checking if the organization met all the categories which are mentioned in the checklist and how far the quality is maintained with regards to the standards. Then the final task was to make a report based on the quality audit. The report also involved making suggestion that it could be implemented by Somerfield in improving the services and quality of the products. Conclusion The audit conducted on Samsung revealed a lot of insights into the company. During the audit I found that Samsung has a wide variety of products which were sourced from many different countries. I have also found various details about the quality management systems at Samsung, the various quality certifications held by Samsung. I have audited the company by exchanging views some people who are involved in the Samsung quality monitoring process. Also I have used inputs from various employees and customers through a series of questions posed to them about their knowledge of quality at Samsung. Through my audit, I have realised that Samsung follows most of the quality management systems. The areas where i found that Samsung lacked was that the quality policies are not effectively communicated to employees and that the policy for quality is more centralized. I make the following recommendations based on the above interactions. Recommendations An open book policy, especially with its employees and small customers, is necessary to be maintained by Samsung if it has to keep its tag of quality to be upheld. The company needs to allow its consumers to access its quality records so that the consumers are assured of the goods that they are receiving. Policies towards the environment have to be reviewed regularly. This has to be done so that environmental standards are met. Environmental issues are becoming issues of high importance and Samsung needs to be a part of the policies that involve making the world a better place because of its policies. Although Samsung is a part of the environment group, it has to develop more policies towards setting up more stringent rules to be more environments friendly. Staff forums and groups should also concentrate on revealing the results of the audits. This transparency will help to create a better environment to help work well. The staff would be motivated if there are some positive points in the audit and they will be motivated to work better on the not so good points. Major operating groups do not have separate policies. This is disadvantageous as some operating groups need to have special policies that cover the whole range of work that needs to be checked upon. Some groups may not fit into a frame work that the policy of the Samsung has to offer and hence it is essential to make made to order policies. References

robert browning speakers Essay -- essays research papers

West Comparing speakers: My last duchess and porphyria’s lover   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The great poet Robert Browning, who created the poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s lover, had an interesting taste for speakers of his poems. He seems to be fond of violent, sexual and eccentric people to narrate his intriguing poems. In his poem Porphyira’s Lover, a dramatic monologue, a man in a cottage talks of a woman who brings cheer to his house when she appears out of the storm outside. When the man realizes the moment won’t last, he kills her by strangulation and lays her by his side. In his other poem, The Last Duchess, The Duke of Ferrara is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke's marriage to the daughter of another powerful family. You soon realize when reading the poem that he killed his former wife The Duchess and speaks of her poor behavior despite all of her fortunes. Through out both of these poems Browning’s genius choice in speakers is very prevalent and the similarities and differences between the speakers are striking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When talking about how these speakers are similar there are many characteristics that the Duke and the man share. First of all, the men both kill the women the love. The duke killed the duchess because she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate her great name. On the other hand the man killed the woman in the cottage because he was afra...

Corporal punishment Essay

Introduction The performance of most South African schools fluctuates from time to time. These fluctuation trends are as a result of the micro-evolutionary mechanistic changes that consistently take place throughout the country. Some schools in the urban areas perform extremely well, but some perform poorly despite the available resources that the school have. For example some of these schools have laboratories that are highly functional and also well structured for experimental as well as practical work which enhances skills in learners and also intensifies the existing theoretical knowledge that the learners have, whereas in schools geographically featured in remote areas or should I say rural schools, these resources are scarce. Privileged learners in these schools (urban) do not utilize these resources appropriately. Most learners in rural areas come from very disadvantaged homes and go to disadvantaged schools. However, the performance in some of these schools is satisfactory. Some learners academically excel irrespective of the harsh conditions they have to encounter on a daily basis. These Excellencies are facilitated by educators, parents/guardians or community members who act as â€Å"steering† in the learning environment. Educators in these schools sympathize with their learners and thus dedicate themselves in everything they do which effectively enhance as well make active the mindset of learners irrespective of their spectral backgrounds. We often hear of these educators who play such critical roles in learner’s academic life in newspapers, community radio stations and also on televisions. Some of the work of these educators may not be globally recognized but the outcomes are truly appreciated in the South African context. Distinction between resilience and excellence The restoration from form unfavourable conditions due to environmental factors is referred to as resilience. Generally resilience according to Akhurst and Sader, 2012 is â€Å"the process of recovering quickly from misfortune or illness†. If resilience was to be explained in scientific terms: It can be explained as follows, â€Å"let’s consider a typical plant cell and see what happens when you place it in a saturated solution( solution containing an excessive amounts of solutes) , the plant cell shrinks, becomes smaller in size and temporarily lose form and shape. During the process, its contents are rearranged, altered and functionality ceases to operate. When you take the same plant cell and place it in pure water, the cell regains its contents and gets restored back to its original form. The plant cell does not die because there is a â€Å"resilient force† which prevents it from total annihilation. The plant cell stays dormant until its physiological conditions get restored†. Similarly in the context of resilience in schools, some schools are able to overcome the barriers associated with learning and continue with the production of good results irrespective of external factors. Excellence in simple terms can be described as the ability to do well or the production of positive outcomes. Excellence in schools can be assessed differenty depending on the schools primary purpose. For example schools that do well in mathematics regard themselves as being excellent whereas schools that perform well in Speech and drama also regards themselves also as being excellent. So in actual fact, the description of the excellent depends on the desired outcomes of that particular context. Excellence in schools Resilience in Relation to Excellence Corporal punishment was another way of shaping learners, that mischiveously stood on the way pathway of learners with the willingness to perform to produce outstanding results. (Christie, P, 2001, p52). Even though this is very unlawful, meetings based on corporal punishments are first discussed with the parents/guardians of the learners before a decision is taken. Some learners parents/guardians agrees, specifically those with children’s from black schools. The reason why they (parents) permit educators to give corporal punishment is simply because they were raised in a similar way which in a way instilled good discipline and also helped them to be responsible individuals. â€Å"Some parents still believe that abandoning corporal punishment by the government is the reason why learners perform poorly in their subjects at school. However, according to Christie, 2012, the banning of corporal punishment could not be the reason for poor performance in South African schools, because no evidence was gathered in the apartheid era. Some resilient learners were greatly aspired by pupils in the community, these included church, and community services. This is true, for example in my case after trying to give on school . i. e. at high school, some grown up folks that lived in the same neighbourhood as me, folks that i used to hang up with and take drugs encouraged and told me that dropping out of school was not an option for a person who really wants to be successful in life. At first when they said this, i questioned them about why did they drop out at standard 8 and 9, now known as grade 10 and 11 respectively? Unfortunately these guys did history while still at school and the response they gave was a quotation from former S. A president, Nelson Mandela, which stated that â€Å"A 70 year old can never think like a 30 year old, and being 70 years of age gives you the licence and priviledge that the 30 year old can never have†. The second quotation they gave was from Malcom X, which stated that,†The future belongs to those who prepare for it today†. Well at that stage all of this was meaningless to me as a science learner, but after being triggered by a discussion I had with one of my EDPD610 colleague (Ms Moodley) during the first contact session, I started to realise the in depth meaning that these guys were trying to convey to me 11 years ago. Conditions at that time for me were unfavourable, both mom and dad were uneducated, consumed liquor and I had to watch my father beat my mother almost every weekend, the home turned into a â€Å"gladiator ring† with my elder brother and I as the referees. I was good in mathematics and science at grade 8, but when I reached grade 10, the performance started to deteriorate because I started to take drugs and abandoned my soccer training in the afternoons. I joined wrong friends and isolated myself from my primary school buddies. Unfortunately one of my science teachers, Mrs S Padayachee detected the problem and confronted me directly. I received help, woke up and dusted myself, but it was too late for me to catch up with the material covered in grade 12. I ended passing with bad symbols and decided to repeat my matric. After repeating, I passed with good symbols, enrolled for Bsc degree at UKZN, graduated, and now i’m a science educator, with less than a year experience. Generally I feel revived, resurrected, and restored and have this immense power of wanting to infiltrate knowledge to South African learners. I managed to excel academically despite the repulsive forces that acted upon me, I managed to excel in overcoming my negative thoughts, I managed to excel in making my family proud of me because i’m the only person in the family to reach matric and have a degree. Best practices of teacher’s resilience in their schools Conclusion References 1) http://web. uvic. ca/hr/managertoolkit/changeandtransition/takingchargechange. pdf( date accessed 13/03/13) 2) Botha ,R. J(2004). Excellence in leadership : The demands the professional school pricinple. Retrieved 08 March 13, 2013http://www. ajol. info/index. php/saje/article/viewFile/24995/20678 3) Christie,P. (2001). Improving school quality in South Africa: a study of schools that have succeeded against the odds. Journal of Education , 41,45,52 4) Hattie, J (2003). Teachers make a difference: what is the research eveidence.

The Ipact of ASL Essay examples

The Ipact of ASL Essay examples The Ipact of ASL Essay examples American sign Language is a complicated language spoken through intricate signs made by one's hands blended with a variety of facial expressions body positions and other gestures. The language is most commonly used by the deaf population in North America and is the major communication alternative for the deaf and hard of hearing. Since ASL is seen as an authentic and definite language it has many variations just like other languages do such as French and Spanish. There is no single form of sign language that is universal because each variation of sign language is unique to its specific region. ASL is an exceptional form of communication and beneficial to an enormous part of the population. It's origin present conditions future expectations and overall impact are quite extraordinary and eye-opening. Although it is not certain where ASL originated it is true that it came to be more than 200 years ago from the unification of local sign languages and French sign language LSF. The modern day ASL has been influenced by both Al ass at a local sign languages and their marriage has created a deep elaborate and completes language. Although similar to spoken languages sign language also significantly differs from them in a variety of forms. Sunknoll not Damien from Galileo academic search Premier reinforces the fact that "just like spoken languages sign languages are merged with the culture of the deaf communities" ("Spoken Vs sign languages- what's the difference?"). There is no severe discrimination between the two types of languages but there is one major boundary separating the two. Spoken languages are understood through ears, whike sign languages are understood through eyes. Although minor solutions are present this difference restricts the death and the hearing from communica ting without any complexity. From a physical perspective sign language uses more energy and provides more exhaustion and spoken languages. Nevertheless both spoken languages and sign languages strive to complete the same task which is make conversation possible for all people. Sign language has truly impacted many different cultures and lives struggled with the exchange of dialogue. However sign language was not only created through the goal of using communication hardships. Some members of diverse cultures take Valzah silence and secrecy which drives them to learn a language that does not require any spoken words. According to Gale discovering collection, "members of religious orders sworn to silence often rely on simple gestures rather than coded system to communicate with one another" (Sign Language"). Because of sign language his current benefit to such an abundant population in the world more people are beginning to take a sincere fascination and language. Several experts believe that sign language can also be used to communicate with animals. For example since chimpanzees cannot speak the same language as humans expert suppose it would be possible to teach them to hold a conversation through hand motions and body language. MAS Ultra-School Ed ition Explains that "As a scientific experiment conducted by Columbia University Prof. Herbert Terrace, baby Nim was initially Please buy a surrogate 'mother,' Stephanie Lafarge, who lived with her husband and three children in a Manhattan apartment" (Of Chimps and Humans"). Nim, a baby chimpanzee was talk to communicate through sign language as a part of project Nim. He was not capable of creating sentences but that is only because his motivation to do so was not significantly great. If Nim wished he could have produced complex sentences because he was a very intelligent animal considering he understood all the sign language he was exposed to. An estimated 12 out of every 1000 people with hearing impairments become death under the age of 18. Because of this it is encouraged for children to learn sign language in there very early ages. Since children cannot easily communicate with others