Discipline Kills Creativity, But . . .

   

A unique work force characteristic in Taiwan is its high degree of discipline. Owing to the Chinese Confucian influence, Taiwanese are in general very disciplined. While discipline may kill creativity and innovation, it is conducive to a high degree of precision and repeatability . These are particularly important worker capabilities for successful manufacturing.

Mr. Shen Jung Chin has worked with ITRI as a researcher for many years . His research interest was in the development of semiconductor industries in Taiwan.

Shen Jung Chin

Tightening of nuts and bolts

There are many reasons why Taiwan succeeds in IC manufacturing. One of the crucial factors is the nature of discipline in the work force. In a manufacturing environment, engineers need to be highly disciplined. As a result, the best engineers in the U.S. and many parts of the developed world will never want to work in manufacturing environments. However, in Taiwan, the best engineering graduates opt to work for large IC manufacturing companies such as UMC and TSMC. The disciplined environment is not something unfamiliar to Taiwanese engineers .

To illustrate how discipline can be crucial to the yield of IC and other manufacturing processes, I offer this example:

Semiconductor equipment requires regular maintenance. This involves dismantling and reassembling of parts. In the reassembling of a part, if there are four bolts and nuts to be tightened so as to secure the part (Figure 14-1), a certain sequence should be followed: tighten nut a and nut c slightly, followed by nut b and nut d. After that, tighten nut a and nut c further, followed by nut b and nut d. This process is repeated a few times until all the nuts are completely tightened. It is tedious . But by doing so, one can increase the yield rate significantly. The engineers must have such discipline in order to achieve high yield rates all the time.

Figure 14-1. Discipline required in manufacturing process.

graphics/14fig01.gif

Such is the high degree of discipline required. It is not surprising that shortly after adopting the technology from RCA, Taiwan's IC yield rates were higher than the U.S. average in the late 1970s. [2] Today, Taiwanese IC yield rates remains one of the highest in the world.

   


Creating Regional Wealth in the Innovation Economy. Models, Perspectives, and Best Practices
Creating Regional Wealth in the Innovation Economy: Models, Perspectives, and Best Practices
ISBN: 0130654159
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 237

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