Process innovation and learning by doing in semiconductor manufacturing

This payer analyzes the relationship between process innovation and learnin g by doing in the semiconductor industry where improvements in manufacturin g yield are a catalyst for dynamic cost reductions. In contrast to most pre vious studies of learning by doing, the learning curve is shown here to be the product of deliberate activities intended to improve yields and reduce costs, rather than the incidental byproduct of production volume. Since som e of the knowledge acquired through learning by doing during new process de velopment is specific to the production environment where the process is de veloped, some knowledge is effectively lost when a new process is transferr ed to manufacturing. We find that dedicated process development facilities, geographic proximity between development and manufacturing facilities, and the duplication of equipment between development and manufacturing facilit ies are all significant in improving performance in introducing new technol ogies. Once in manufacturing, new processes are shown to disrupt the ongoin g learning activities of existing processes by drawing away scarce engineer ing resources to "debug" the new processes.