Kort nieuws

ASML overweegt Chinese toeleverancier

Paul van Gerven

20 March 2017

ASML onderzoekt of het Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Smee) kan toevoegen aan zijn netwerk van toeleveranciers. De twee bedrijven hebben daartoe vorige week een intentieverklaring getekend op de Semicon China-handelsbeurs. ASML is al jaren actief in China, maar de ic-industrie lijkt er aan een groeispurt te zijn begonnen. Het land ambieert om in 2025 voor zeventig procent zelfvoorzienend te zijn in chipgebruik.

Bits&Chips publiceert in editie 2 (verschijningsdatum: 7 april) een uitgebreide analyse van de ontwikkelingen in de Chinese halfgeleidermarkt.

Foto: www.laoyaoba.com

Yes, Agile short cycles also work in high-tech development

Developing innovative high-tech equipment is a daunting challenge, especially for startups and scale-ups. Solid systems engineering and lots of organizing are required when working with partners from different fields of expertise (which is almost always the case). Generating new ideas and validating them in your next prototype can take a lot of time. And there is always the risk of drowning in specifications, procedures and organizational issues. But your engineers want to engineer! The solution? Do it Agile! Surprisingly, an Agile approach with short development cycles will also work in high-tech development. The key is taking smaller steps, dividing the components into really small functional units, which can be either software, programmable logic, electronics or mechanics. Next, project partners quickly build and develop these units in a parallel process or they can employ third parties such as prototyping services to do this. Finally, hardware and software units are integrated into a working prototype, ready to be tested. This way, the short cycles generate quick and frequent feedback on product feasibility. With an Agile approach to high-tech development, it becomes much easier to keep the focus on the technical development of the next prototype. It allows all partners to concentrate on building the best possible components. This talk will highlight the advantages of Agile high-tech development, using as an example real-life cases, such as the development of crucial components for a multi-beam scanning electron microscope.

Remco Jager is a project manager at Technolution Advance, a company that supports startups, scale-ups, and leading innovative manufacturers to bring advanced, innovative ideas to market quickly. Building upon 18 years of experience with the development of solutions for the semiconductor industry, Jager realizes cutting-edge innovations for a wide range of customers in high tech. He has a broad and detailed technical understanding and a talent for creating overview and shaping processes.