Customers

Tosoh SET"We thought our issue resolution process was just too dynamic to automate. Nsite not only automates our process, it is now a key contributor that supports our corporate mission of continuous improvement towards zero defects."

Terry Reichert, Quality Director, Tosoh SET

Overview

Tosoh SET is a supplier of premium-quality process kits to the semiconductor industry. Like all members of the TOSOH Group, Tosoh SET follows a series of clear corporate priorities that are designed to deliver complete customer satisfaction and the highest-quality products in the semiconductor industry. At Tosoh, customer support is the number one corporate priority, and Issue Resolution is a key initiative in support of this.

The issue resolution process, managed by the quality assurance team, is a multi-part process that touches personnel company-wide. When an issue arises, management of all departments is immediately notified, in tandem with routing the issue to QA. QA then manages a series of steps that involve action determination and assignment of issue, tracking of cause and action to be taken, dates for completion of issue resolution, and a later effectiveness follow-up to determine long-term success of the resolution. Throughout the entire process, customer service must respond to customers affected by the issue, management must remain informed, and QA must manage the issue through resolution and effectiveness follow-up. The process was initiated with a paper-based form and managed by QA staff using a variety of desktop tools.

This manual system was inefficient and cumbersome. With a large number of varying participants, the need for constant updates to management and customer support representatives, and the varying magnitude of the issues, a more effective solution was needed. Yet with its highly variable parameters, this process had defied automation; requirements for predetermined action paths and specialists to instigate system changes were simply not viable. Tosoh turned to Nsite, with its flexible, user-initiated process refinement approach.

Benefits to Tosoh SET

Nsite at Work

Now, when customer service initiates an issue using Nsite, management throughout the company is immediately notified, while QA simultaneously reviews and assigns personnel to determine the cause and action, and establishes due dates for resolution. QA is able to track and manage all issues through to timely resolution, and customer support has round-the-clock access to immediate status in order to respond to customers' requests.

Tosoh relies heavily on Nsite's solution to create an audit trail around every issue and resolution. A complete case history is available at any time on any issue - whether open or resolved. Every person notified of the issue or assigned to resolve, every cause and action determination, every date for required action or response, and every supporting document or note is always instantly available online.

Results

"The Nsite audit trail is invaluable for effectiveness follow-up," explained Terry Reichert, Quality Director. "The Tosoh quality mandate calls for both short-term and longer-term follow-up on the effectiveness of corrective action, to ensure real and lasting improvements have been made. I assign this follow-up to someone independent of the issue and resolution process. The Nsite audit trail is invaluable in bringing the follow-up personnel up to speed quickly."

Nsite's audit trail is a significant aid in ISO 9000 compliance. As an ISO 9001-registered company, Tosoh SET adheres to documented quality procedures that guarantee traceability throughout all the company's processes.

"At a department level, there's no doubt that using Nsite to manage the issue resolution process streamlines operations, saves me time, and provides me with the reporting I need to consistently maintain top quality across the entire company."

Terry Reichert, Quality Director, Tosoh SET

"The ability to track the process of issue resolution from beginning to end, to attach due dates and supporting documentation, and to clearly define accountability at every step is key to supporting our top corporate priorities of customer support and premium quality product," Reichert said. "And at a department level, there's no doubt that using Nsite to manage the issue resolution process streamlines operations, saves me time, and provides me with the reporting I need to consistently maintain top quality across the entire company. At QA review meetings, we just bring up the Nsite screen now, and all open issues are discussed from there."

Metrics gathered by Nsite have facilitated analysis at any level of detail across issues reported, issue resolution categories, and long-term effectiveness or otherwise. Using this reporting, Tosoh has been able to highlight likely trouble spots as well as improve both corrective and preventative actions, thereby improving long-term effectiveness.

To add to the success of quickly initiating and managing each issue resolution through to completion, the Nsite user interface was customized across the functional needs of a variety of user groups. This customization adds to the effectiveness of the system, as well as simplifying both usage and training. Training for the new Nsite issue resolution system was accomplished with one training session, during which participants were taken on a walk-through of the new system. The system uses electronic forms that mirror the original paper forms and provides additional benefit by requiring that all key data be provided before routing to the next participants. This ensures each process is initiated correctly, and is quickly on its way to resolution with no time wasted through missing information.

"We thought our issue resolution process was just too dynamic to automate," said Reichert. "Nsite not only automates our process, it is now a key contributor that supports our corporate mission of continuous improvement towards zero defects."

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