Digital Transformation Decoded
At the heart of the enigma of digital transformation are at least five or seven core principles that preserve equilibrium and maintain gravity - even in the stratosphere of intelligent industry:
1) Being Cloud Simple
First, make a legacy system cloud-simple - or at least, hybrid, for economies of cost and scale. A common install base of the right applications for the right customer, enables platform technologies with those prized customizations. Yet, the option of going multi-tenant and public cloud is always available - provided some standardization is feasible. The semiconductor industry for example, gave birth to the microprocessor - arguably the most complex invention known to mankind. Hence, its siloed structures may only yield to a hybrid cloud environment. This is an adequate pathway on the high-road to innovation.
2) Intelligent Integration
Next, the Intelligent?#Integration?of pivotal nodes that stitch high value solutions in high value areas in this industry are at the "core" of digital transformation of the chip industry. Examples of prime technology real estate in the chips domain, are, Design Management, New Product Introduction, Advanced packaging (Chiplets and 3D IC technologies), Supply Chain, and an Integrated E2E semiconductor life cycle.
3) Digital Threads
But it is Digital Threads?that are the spun gold of digital transformation. They are stitched via technical integrations - the pesky but necessary notches in the braid of smooth silk with their super tensile strength. Sometimes the integrations are for technical necessity. Often, they will enable a valued partner. But frequently, they are the main value proposition of this digital journey. This is when the seeds are sown, of a seamless, sellable, and sustainable solution.
4) Reusability
Reusability implies that the life of a component does not begin when it is manufactured, nor does it end once it is installed.??It is possible to trace the lifespan of any element from the very start of the design process, and this can continue to the very end of its natural or digital life.?When one collates this data saturated process into a single record, it has metamorphosed into a traceable digital thread, woven through every stage of the life of that component, be it a die, a device, a part, a process, like a thread through a fine silk garment. This record is revealing, and often predictive, to the insightful engineer and business analyst alike.
5) Trusted Traceability
This is the ability to easily analyze the complete life a component gives the manufacturer and the customer multiple benefits that were not available a generation ago. The Digital thread will take you from modeling to manufacturing to deployment in its streamlined stitched path. These skeins of information are vital for the modern?product lifecycle management?(PLM) software.?PLM software, once enriched by these sinuous threads, will also manage, and appropriately encase and present the information needed to make decisions about logistics.?It will include sources of supply and other attribute information that will allow the component to be integrated into any?bill-of-materials?associated with the final design.?
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6) E2E Lifecycle Management
#PLM?software is the main beneficiary of these digital threads and will use these tensile artefacts to manage the list of approved parts that engineers may use and re-use in alternative designs.?Not only does this simplify the supply chain but makes designs portable, easy to share, thus reducing time to market. Equally, the digital thread is a key component of detailed 3D models?that are available for designers.?By selecting a 3D model in native CAD formats, embedded with the data needed for semiconductor life cycle software,?designers are equipped to ride the tide of digital transformation?for competitive advantage.
7) Data as an Asset <> Asset Data
In the same Rumpelstiltskin vein, if digital threads are spun gold, the nuggets, hard immovable precious blocks that must be broken down - are?#data?models. In the private-public, global-local, partnerships of today - with such porous borders and political paradigms, data is the ultimate asset. Much like black gold it carries its risks and rewards. In the?#multicloud?era with its lattice of cross-domain data models, distributed data??must be monitored. Its value can be capitalized if this precious asset is correctly managed, with supervision and governance, during the data excavation. Those data nuggets are no less precious than nickel, cadmium, silicon carbide, plutonium!
8) At the Intelligent Edge
I would be remiss, if the Intelligent?#edge?, and the boon (or curse) of?#5G?networks were not listed on this humble short list of Digital Transformation essentials. Of course, the intelligent, brilliant, architectures with smart devices perched on the proverbial edge have facilitated "blazing" fast transmission. They allow the almost real-time extraction of shallow data from smart devices. These devices skim the cream off the top of the most delicate data models and fabrics. However, with the blessing of availability and access, comes the challenge of secure access to this prime data store.
9) The Security Hydra
The distinct phases in a manufacturing flow for example, are design control, design management, packaging, assembly and test, manufacturing planning, production, post-production. These would all be strung together in the E2E semiconductor workflow. Hence, the dissemination of data should be jealously guarded for very good reasons. So,?cyber network and physical #Security?is another hydra headed monster in the digital odyssey.
10) Go Holistic - not Ballistic
All these elements are stepping stones and cannot be skipped once the journey has started. Despite the sometimes intimidating complexity and a general lack of readiness, the era of digital transformation is undoubtedly upon us. It cannot be circumvented with the convenient "plugs" of domain expertise, and hype. We bandy terms like Digital Transformation, IOT, Metaverse with ease. To espouse these concepts without strategy is empty. To evangelize without action is problematic. Digital Threads, Digital Integration, and Distributed Data Management, are key. Also, Culture, Business Model and Operations must also transform in tandem, for a technology enterprise to digitally transform. An enterprise rooted in legacy mindset cannot be a digital evangelist. Similarly, a traditional business model cannot flex to the shifting paradigms of a digitally progressive and commercially challenged client base. To state the obvious, it is helpful to approach Digital Transformation with a strategy, not enthusiasm alone.