Standardization Leads to Global Markets
Michael Wright, Chief Operating Officer, Entegris, Chaska, Minn. -- Semiconductor International, 6/1/2003
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| Michael Wright, Chief Operating Officer, Entegris, Chaska, Minn.
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Thomas Edison's lightbulb was a dramatic invention, but the standards it spawned from power delivery to the simple screw-base socket became critical to the creation of a sustainable and worldwide market. In 1879, Edison publicly demonstrated his incandescent electric lightbulb, and just three years later he supervised the standardized installation of the first for-profit central station in the United States, in lower Manhattan, for the distribution of electricity to fewer than 100 customers. Fast forward another 10 years and hundreds of patents later, and the Wizard of Menlo Park merged his company, Edison Electric Light Co., with a competitor to form General Electric. And, as they say, the rest is history.
Lest we think that our generation is the only one to experience the boom and bust of a dot-com-like phenomenon, consider the impact of the initial news reports of Edison's lightbulb invention. Natural gas company stocks dropped dramatically while the value of Edison Electric stock soared to $3500 a share (in 1879 dollars).
From invention to implementation to business management, standardization played a key role in launching the electric era economic boom. In 1901, the U.S. government formed the National Institute of Standards and Technology with the mission to develop and promote "measurements, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life." In 1906, the International Electrotechnical Commission was created, which led to the formation of the International Standards Organization (ISO) in 1947. Perhaps best known today in the semiconductor industry for its ISO quality certifications, the organization has helped business avoid chaos by implementing worldwide standards ranging from paper size to photographic film speed code and from standardized freight containers to the metric screw thread standard, which helps keep the very nuts and bolts of commerce flowing.
Integral to our own industry, more than 3200 technologists worldwide — representing both device manufacturers and equipment and materials suppliers — currently participate in the SEMI International Standards program. This forum began in the United States more than a quarter century ago and gained international traction in the mid-1980s primarily due to its positive impact on supplier profitability, customer satisfaction, and industry efficiency.
In their infancy, standards organizations were aimed primarily at manufacturing, but today the inclusion of standards impacts service industries and professional organizations as well. Governments around the world understand the impact of global standardization. We have heard the rattling of trade war sabers over whether exported baseball bats meet the standards of the importing country. And accounting standards — or more precisely the questionable adherence to them — have taken more than their fair share of headlines recently.
Simply stated: Standards help create markets. Standards help the innovator convert a world-class idea into a worldwide business. Standards help businesses qualify the quality of its goods and services. Standards help consumers determine value. Standards help industries and societies define integrity.
Our industry is one of the most innovative in the world. The semiconductor sector has changed the way we live as much as Edison's lightbulb, if not more. Our innovation continues with next-generation lithography; 300 mm manufacturing; environmental, health and safety issues; the quickly emerging field of nanotechnology; and the increasing challenges of transporting and protecting critical materials and electronic components.
When we take our fab-proven processes, products and services and apply them to other industries, we often find a set of standards that are not as dynamic or demanding. Pushing our core competencies into other markets such as pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing, and even fuel-cell technologies and food processing, exposes us to both new possibilities and new standardization challenges.
That said, standardization and its resulting benefits always will be a journey for the semiconductor industry. For example, International SEMATECH (Austin, Texas) has unveiled draft guidelines for assessment of 300 mm wafer conformance to industry standards. Yet we still debate the software protocols needed for automated manufacturing (if we agree on the software language, we still argue over whether the tool supplier or the manufacturer using the tools owns the data).
We had better learn from history. Edison lighted the world with his innovative thinking, and he helped establish a quintessential, sustainable business model. Could he have done it — and where would we be today — if the lightbulb screw base had not been standardized?
