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In today’s hyper-competitive industries, having an optimized test structure has never been more critical. Propelled by IoT, products are becoming exponentially complex. At the same time, market pressures continue to shorten time-to-market windows. Although your talent is your most important asset, harnessing it effectively across interdepartmental or even international lines can be a logistical nightmare. In this landscape, adopting a connected test strategy that can scale and evolve with your business is not just an advantage—it’s a necessity.
Mergers and acquisitions often propel organizational growth in the semiconductor industry. This situation often creates a significant challenge since teams tend to operate in entirely different ecosystems with tools that aren’t inherently easy to connect with one another. The ability to reuse intellectual property (IP) becomes invaluable, but companies often fail to capitalize on this opportunity. Although there’s a potential to leverage best practices from either side, doing so requires an extraordinarily flexible framework.
Connected software solutions, such as NI InstrumentStudio™ software, offer this very framework for centralized IP management, enabling seamless team collaboration in a high-stakes, fast-paced environment. They allow for the integration of different methodologies and toolsets, providing a unified platform where diverse teams can effectively collaborate and focus their time on creating innovative technologies instead of setting up tests.
The dynamics of the modern workforce mean that engineers are less likely to spend their entire careers at one organization. Having a custom-built solution that only one or two engineers know how to use comprehensively leaves the entire team in a tricky situation if one of them decides to leave. Adopting a flexible, scalable, and user-friendly software platform is imperative. Additionally, standardizing on a framework across organizations helps centralize training and ramp up new talent quicker. Such a platform can accommodate a diverse range of skill sets, ensuring that your organization remains agile and responsive in meeting the exacting demands of the industry.
Relying on legacy test operations can significantly impede an organization’s growth and agility. As businesses evolve, so too must the technology that supports them. Unfortunately, many organizations find themselves restricted by legacy test operations that are fragmented and decentralized. This scenario complicates information gathering, consolidation, and analysis. Additionally, these legacy systems can be difficult to scale, making them increasingly inadequate for modern, growing organizations that need easy-to-configure and maintainable testing platforms. Moreover, legacy systems frequently rely on individual expertise for smooth operation, creating a vulnerability if key staff members leave or are unavailable.
The bottom line is that when companies resort to ad hoc solutions to individual problems without a broader strategic vision, they risk wasting both time and money. These makeshift solutions can create an environment of disconnected tools, lacking adaptability. Keeping legacy systems updated can also be a struggle. With emerging technologies like AI and “big data” becoming increasingly important, the complexity needed to update such systems can require substantial resources to keep up with technological innovation.
We can build a central library of trusted measurements that each team can start to reuse and pull from and develop further. We avoid too much redundant effort on teams and starting things from scratch.
—Wolfgang Rominger, NXP Austria Validation Engineer/Architect
Standardizing your systems involves creating defined processes, systems, software architectures, and data structures that are consistent across an organization’s various functional departments. The benefits of standardization are multifold:
Opting for an industry-standard solution as opposed to developing a custom in-house tool brings several advantages that are crucial for standardization. These connected tools come with predefined best practices and frameworks that can align your diverse teams under a unified process. This eliminates the guesswork and allows teams to hit the ground running. And because such solutions are widely adopted, they have robust community support and regular updates that keep your test systems future-proof, making it easier to onboard new employees who are more likely to be familiar with these standard tools.
One of the underappreciated benefits of standardization lies in its capacity to streamline test data accessibility across various systems, teams, and sites. This capability is vital for quality assurance and continuous improvement. Additionally, standardization accelerates the construction of test systems by providing a common equipment base and framework, simplifying customization across diverse projects and departments. Beyond operational efficiency, the interconnectedness between the software and testers in a standardized system becomes not just an advantage but a fundamental necessity, ensuring the smooth operation of automated workflows and enabling data pipelines.
For a test leader in the semiconductor industry, choosing between building or maintaining an in-house legacy system or buying a scalable, connected solution is a critical decision. In general, you should build when you need something unique and buy when you have common needs. Let’s look at some circumstances that can provide direction on which is the best option.
Identify Your Needs for Building versus Buying
Even with the above stipulations, the answer isn’t always straightforward. It depends on multiple factors, including cost, test requirements, and the complexity of your systems under test. It’s important to ask yourself the following questions:
By carefully weighing these elements and asking key questions about test coverage evolution, IP reuse, and network compatibility, test leaders can make an informed decision that best suits their specific needs and long-term objectives.
Standardization of software solutions brings a host of benefits, including simplified integration, lessened complexity, and expedited adoption across different teams or units. It fosters better interoperability, makes maintenance more straightforward, and can result in substantial cost savings by minimizing the requirement for bespoke solutions. Test leaders may find considerable value in leaning toward an industry-tested, flexible platform approach for standardization. Such an approach offers a safety net against the risks commonly associated with custom-built systems while also providing the adaptability required to keep pace with the dynamic landscape of the semiconductor industry.
To learn more about how a modern lab approach can optimize post-silicon validation and maximize efficiency in the face of increasing device complexity and time-to-market pressures, read How a Modern Lab Approach Optimizes Post-Silicon Validation.
