21st Century Manufacturing Episode 2 Part 4 pot

The copper write coil is shown at the top of this figure, and the MR read element is further down the stack.. As before, an inductive write element writes bits of information to magnen-c

MRtcadclemcut Figure 6.19 Magnetoresisuve head operation

This multilayer sandwich arrangement is shown in Figure 6.19 The copper write coil is shown at the top of this figure, and the MR read element is further down the stack

• The write coil is copper It is laid down by the same pbotolithography and plating steps as described earlier However, now that it only has to perform the form both the write and the read functions The head requires fewer copper coils, material layers, photolithography steps, and tolerance controls This in itself also leads to fewer complications in manufacturing and a better yield

• The read element is nickel/iron and is laid downbysputtering The NiFe alloy exhibits a change in resistance as it passes over a magnetic field: this is the MR shield is shown to the left of the MR sensor in Figure6.20.The other shield is actually merged with and part of the write coil Further developments in the material itself lead to the "giant MR effect." The pickup sensor is a multilayer sandwich with a thin metal interlayer able to respond to even smaller mag-netic fields

As before, an inductive write element writes bits of information to magnen-calIy biased regions within radially concentric tracks on the disc When it is necessary

to read the data back, the MR sensor is used rather than another inductive head The the magnetization in the MR sensor to rotate.The read current is indicated inFigure620 This rotation is detected as a resistance change by a precision amplifier, which then produces a stronger signal to the disc drive output

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Figure 6.20 Magnetoresistive head design

6.5 MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY

6.5.1The Culture and History of the Computer Industry

The evolution of the electronic computer over the past six decades from a rare, highly specialized item to a commodity has repeatedly reshaped the computer industry (Stern, 1980; Bell, 1984) Table 6.2 shows some of the main milestones

As one example, in 1953, having assembled transistors with other discrete com-ponents, IBM decided to make a prototype and investigate the market for the 1YJ>e650 magnetic drum calculator The 1YPe650's computing power was roughly equivalent to

a modem VCR and rented for $3,250 per month, equivalent to $20,000 in today's dol-tive marketing group The market for a commercial computer was estimated to be small But when the stalwart Type 650 was finally withdrawn from the market in 1962, several thousand had been sold In this situation, IBM successfullycrossed the chasm

described in Chapter 2 and created a unique and viable product: one of the world's first incorporated a wide range of possible products for a wide variety of users But it should

be stressed that at that time, the users of this computing world were the academic! scientific community on the one hand and commerciallbusiness corporations on the evening to write a letter on a computer, let alone read e-mail or surf the Web For this average consumer, the most significant breakthrough in computing did not occur until the development of the microprocessor Throughout the 1960s,

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TABLE 6.2 Some of the Milestones in the Development of the Electronic Computer

194" ENlAC Vacuum tubes of the electronic numerical Eckert andMauch1y

integrator and calculator EDVAC Stored programsofthe eLectronic discrete von Neumann variable automatic computer

EDSAC Stored programs of the electronic delay Wilkes storage automatic calculator

Transistor Semiconductors:evenlUaUyreplace Shockley,Brattain,

1950s UNIVAC1 Universal automatic computer launched as Eckert and Mauchly

the first commercial electronic computer

650 and 701 Frrst systems launched by IBM IBM

IC Combined functions on one chip Kilby 1_ f360Series Frrst"farnily"ofmachinesofwidely IBM

different capability and cost PDPS Minicomputer sold for <S20,OOO DEC

Apple II Erst personal computer JobsandWozoiak Internet Interconnectivity for the academic community DARPA 19'" IBM PC Best-selling personal computer + multimedia IBM, Intel, and

Microsoft

Mosaic Interconnectiviry for mass consumption NCSA/Andreesen

(Netscape) Java "Write once run anywhere" computing Son PDAs Handheld devices and network computers (NC) Palm Pilot -2000 Wireless Merging of computing/wireless/infonnation Nokia and Motorola

appliances into wide array of consumer products (sometimes called a "POllt"PC"phase)

advances inIedesign and fabrication methods set the stage for the first micro-processor, the 4004 (shown at the beginning of Chapter 5), developed at Intel by a group led by Ted Hoff It was based on two key innovations:

• All logic was on one chip

• The device was programmable by software

The microprocessor made possible a huge middle ground of general-purpose

machines, most notably the personal computer (PC) and high-performance

work-erful networked Pes rival the functionality of professional workstations

By 1977, Jobs and Wozniak huilt and sold the Apple II as a commercial

processor Although its PC was a tremendous success, IBM did not fully capitalize

on its brilliant new product It was not appreciated at the time thatmodest computing power on everyone's desk would be more attractive than greater computing power cen-tralized on mainframes. As a result, two historic choices were madebyIBM:

• It subcontracted the PC operating system to Microsoft

• It subcontracted the Ie fabrication to InteL

Many professional and amateur analysts now look back and criticize these two choices, which, at first glance, appear to have been shortsighted At the time, how-imized research and development (R&D) investment in areas that were not IBM strengths And as time has gone on, there has in fact been an increasing trend in all industries toward subcontracting While it is easy to look back and criticize IBM for not getting the maximum benefit from the first PC, on balance, the decision made at the time was consistent with today's conventional wisdom-namely, to focus on one's core strengths and main markets while outsourcing all other operations Today, Hewlett-Packard,) the trend is toward more outsourcing to companies that provide specialized manufacturing services (e.g., Solectron, Flextronics, SCI systems) Nevertheless the commercial significance of the computer operating system and main microprocessor is now obvious to anyone who uses what bas become known as the "Wlntel'' de facto standard The significance of keeping pace with IC complexity and power over the last three decades

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6.5.2 The Present

From a management of technology point of view, the computer industry is about coping-or failing to cope-with change. With new technologies and applications emerging all the time, the dust barely settles after one revolution before another is well under way In this environment of constant change, staying in business requires mastery of all aspects of the technology management process from research and

of the present situations in the computer industry illustrate how difficult this can be, even for some top performers

• IBM and DEC suffered during the early 19908 because they were large con-servative organizations, overcommitted to a mainframe philosophy

• Apple lost market share throughout the 1990s Analysts and economic observers cite many possible reasons, which usually include a closed proprietary operating system that deters third party software development (see the com-ments on VHS versus Betamax in the preface), low supplies of the best-priced products at critical selling times during the year, and a neglect of design for assembly manufacturing(DFAJM). Apple's future still remains uncertain at the time of this writing despite the captivating aesthetic designs of recent products

In contrast, Dell, Compaq, and Gateway have boosted profitability and cap-tured the market lead by (a) redesigning their products to aggressively cut costs and (b) improving their manufacturing productivity with DFAIM To hold on to their present lead, such companies have also introduced major innovations in their supply chams

Dell in particular has become famous for the "direct sales" model Capitalizing

on a well-organized Website, the company builds each PC to order This has the ben-efit of eliminating the middleman-the computer dealer This direct sales approach delays commitment on the final product configuration until the last possible moment In this way, unnecessary inventories do not build up, and subcomponents can be selectively stocked based on the most popular configurations Other examples

of this strategy are the European assembly plants in the Netherlands, which build the very last minute, a company does not get stuck with too many keyboards or soft-ware applications in the wrong language

Dell also minimizes working capital and maximizes the return on it by using a technique known as anegative cash conversion cycle.This means that a consumer pays Dell for the assembled computer and FedEx shipping costs long before Dell subcomponents is constantly tumbling Curry and Kenney (1999) describe the loss-of-value dynamics of critical subcomponents in the PC industry They report that many of Dell's competitors continue to lose market share because they are unable they can later package and sell them for By delaying payment to their subsuppliers until the PC is sold to the consumer, Dell effectively buys the subcomponents at the

6.5.3The Future

In summary, the versatility and the power of PCs have now made them the work-horses of the information age.All professionals now depend on their desktop, laptop,

or handheld computers for word processing, e-mailing, and access to Web-based information and services

Despite this range of possibilities, fewer and fewer of us are in any way over-whelmed by computers Or if so, we try not to let it show! The real news is that com-puters are not just smaller and faster; they are also a lot cheaper The basic computer, especially in the form of the PC, is a common commodity, well on its way up the

on the Chicago Stock Exchange, but it is getting there, The "sub-$l,OOOmachine" has become the center of today's consumer market, and price performance has become the main focus for the manufacturers Handheld, networked wireless devices are application protocol (WAP), which allows PDAs to easily access the Internet

In the eyes of many analysts, these are heralding a "post-PC age" of convenient devices that boot up directly to specific applications, rather than have the user stumble through the icons on a PC desktop just to get to the Internet?

As a result, multimedia and communications technologies are merging with computers, and industry boundaries are dissolving Newly formed business alliances-sometimes called "virtual corporations"-are clashing for technical and

market leadership These new alliances usually consist of two or more from the

fol-lowing list of constituents:

• PC and PDA makers of Silicon Valley and other high-tech regions

• Chip makers, with Intel being the obvious giant

• Operating system and software developers, dominated by Microsoft

• Telephone companies and network suppliers

• Television and cable TV companies

• Hollywood studios, backed up by special effects companies

At first glance, it is difficult to tell which type of alliance will come out on top,

and what the computer of the future will/ook like and what it will do But based on

it is certain that rapid dramatic changes are in store

Consider, for example, the following thought exercise Choose the most likely scenario for the next several years:

Option 1: "WebTV" will offer even more powerful set-top boxes and smart keyboards

for "interactivation." Television will have so much more interactivity and

"For example, Alan Kessler, president of acorn's Palm Computing, is quoted as follows inu.s. News ana World Report, December 13, 1999, p 52: The new mantra is "give them [consumers] just what

they need when they need it" rather than respond to the "old" consumer demand of: "Give me more

bidirectional communication that the standard desktop PC will be made redundant

Option 2: The web-based PC will become a high-resolution "information furnace" (a buzzword courtesy of Avram Miller of Intel) Voiceover modems, video-telephone links, live concerts by musicians, MP3, and high-quality video images will make TV obsolete

Opdon 3: Neither TVs nor PCS will diminish in popularity Rather, consumers will

continue to have high-quality TV entertainment in the living room and high-quality information processing in the home office

Option 4: The PC in its current instantiation will disappear, and its central

micro-processor will essentially be absorbed internally as the central

informa-tion motor into all such informainforma-tion appliances Norman (1998) and other

observers make the analogy that a stand-alone electric motor was once, in

the 1920s, a consumer product in and of itself It was advertised in the Sears catalog as something "every home should have," connectable to time, the electric motor is of course just as important, but it is not seen as

an external stand-alone device; rather it is buried deep inside consumer

It will be "reduced to a powerful microprocessor" and just be the central

"information motor" for TVs, PDAs, communication devices, and infor-mation appliances This idea is now a recurring theme in the popular

mag-azines of the computer industry, such as Wired, PC Computing, and Red

Herring (1998).

6.5.4 Philosophy

Archaeologists and historians traditionally view the growth of civilization in terms Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Steel Age of the industrial revolution that summarize the rise of the computer from the early mechanical computers, to the

1984; Patterson and Hennessy, 1996a; Economist, 1996).

Partially based on these other writings, the present text hypothesizes that the his-tory and anticipated future of commercial computers may be divided into four distinct phases Note that these commercial developments could not have been launched

and the planar transistor in the period beginning in 1947.Usually, the commercial

devel-the academic community This is certainly true of devel-the World Wide Web (see Berners-Lee, 1989) Actually, this particular gap is 25 years if today's "dot-com-fever" is meas-ured from the beginning of the DARPAnet and its use in the academic community

6.5.4.1 The Iron Age(1953to 1980)

6.5.4.2 The Desktop PeAge (1981to 1991)

The age of stand-alone desktop personal computers, augmented by CD-ROM

6.5.4.3 The World Wide Web Age(1992to 2001)

The age of multimedia applications carried to a global communication level well the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, TV, telephone, workstation, and wireless com-munications technology

6.5.4.4 The Integrated Man-Machine Age (2002 to 2020 and

Beyond)

For1999,The Economist(1999) states that U.S consumers purchased 16.9million PCs-17% mure than in 1998 raisiug household penetration to 52% However, the same and other observers indicate a possible reduction over the next few years due

to several factors: (a) overcapacity; (b) reducing demand for upgrades-many users have "powerful enough" machines; and (c) the rise of PDAs, smart cellular phones, and networked computers (seeRed Herring, 1998).

Obviously the PC "ruled" in the desktop age(1981-1991) and was the key workhorse or platform for the World Wide Web age(1992-2001) However, in the new age of man-machine devices, distinctions and interfaces between human beings tion to life will fade, just as the monolithic mainframe faded

Today's wireless-handheld combination of a cellular phone and PDA is only the beginning of a new age of man-machine devices.Wearable computers are already established devices in advanced applications Weiss (1999) provides a popular review Akella and associates(1992), Smailagic and Siewiorek(1993), and Finger and colleagues (1996) provide more scientific details Extrapolating from these existing prototypes, how might the following list of technical developments influence future products?

• Assuming success with the developments in x-ray lithography and so forth described in Chapter 5, it is reasonable to assume that more than a billion tran-new range of computing capabilities at a scale never before possible

• With billion-transistor chips, all the technologies of the World Wide Web age might well be packaged into a voice-activated, hearing-aid-sized device that can be worn at all times

• Beyond 2020, with advances in engineering biologically compatible materials,

it might well be possible to embed such a tiny but powerful electronic device option

Several decades ago, the philosopher and physicist Heisenberg was one of the first people to futurize about such possibilities He used the following metaphor to

without their protective helmets (shells) but not very effectively Is it possible, Heisenberg then asked,that human beings are living beneath our full potential? If

we were equipped with a kind of "information helmet" -c-using these technologiesof the integrated man-machine age-then we would dramatically increase information access and expand the effectiveness of our lives

When these ideas are discussed in a lecture, many people squirm at the thought

of embedding amicroprocessor and a radio modem under their skin People seem to accept and welcome external devices like hearing aidsand pacemakers, butitdoes seem a threatening "jump" to go to internal devices However, other philosophers have postulated that humankind could have discovered the wheel more quickly if our thinking patterns were not blocked off by observing the rest of nature where no wheel-like devices are found

Perhaps we are also blocking the thought of internally embedded electronic devices for the same reason-namely, that they do not appear anywhere else in nature If we can look beyond this threatening jump-to devices that will improve our personal communication networks, our ability to compensate for injury, and our general health and immunity support functions-then perhaps the Ie and the micro-processor will indeed reach out to an even wider range of tasks

6.6 GLOSSARY

6.6.1 Ball Grid Array (BGA)

Development of individual SMT components, where the connections are made underneath the chip instead of on the perimeter The termball gridrefers to the small balls of solder used to make the connections

6.6.2 Bus

The bus connects the microprocessor, disc drive controller, memory, input/output ports, and other parts of the system

6.6.3Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The main arithmetic and control units plus working memory

6.6.4Compiler

A program that translates from high-level problem-oriented computer languages to machine-oriented instructions

6.6.5 Design for Assembly and Manufacturing (DFA/DFMI

Strategy of lowering cost by aiming at lowering assembly time and reducing the the number of subcomponents, increasing their quality, and simplifying the assembly operations between subcomponents

6.6.6 Flip Chip Technology (FCTI

Extension of SMT/BGA that offers even greater packing density The IC is turned over and placed face down on the board before creating the circuit connections 6.6.7 Head Gimbal Assembly (HGAI

An assembly of a read/write head on an arm This holds the head in place over the rotating disc

6.6.8 Head Stack Assembly IHSA)

An assembly of the HGAs (above), the actuator coil, and a flexible printed circuit cable The HSA also includes a read/write preamplifier, a head selection circuit, and other miscellaneous parts

6.6.9 Interconnection

The process of mechanically joining devices together to complete an electrical cir-cuit Also, the conductive path needed to connect one circuit element to another or

to the rest of the circuit system Interconnections may be leads, soldered joints, wires,

or another joining system

6.6.10 Known Good Die IKGDI

A semiconductor die that has been tested and is known to function properly according to specifications

6.6.11 Lands

Small solder lands/regions of the PCB that provide for the connection of individual ICs and components

6.6.12 Multichip Modules (MCM)

A device containing two or more packaged fCs mounted and interconnected on a substrate

6.6.13 Pin-in-Hole (PIHI

A PCB assembly method that involves inserting the leads of components into holes

in the board, clipping, and soldering the leads into place

6.6.14 Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

Also called a printed wiring board (PWB), this is a rigid insulating substrate with double-sided, and multilayer boards A raw "starter board" is a PCB without com-ponents attached to it