Published
by Olivier Mathieu, Market Development Manager
Advanced Electronics Solutions
During this time of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, we greatly appreciate the strong relationships that have been built over the last decades. We are focused and working hard to ensure that we continue to serve you through this evolving situation. Particularly, we truly thank you for your orders. We would like to take the opportunity to show you how much we care about your business. Our order management process is certified according to IATF 16949, in order to help prevent mistakes, misunderstandings and lost time. At the end of the day, you expect the goods to arrive on time and intact; our teams are here to satisfy your needs.
Your main point of contact are our local customer service representatives in Asia, Europe and North America. They first check your purchase order (PO) for completeness, including customer name, PO number, PO date, customer part number, order quantity and requested delivery date, which are entered in our ERP system. Our team confirms that a drawing is available in a .dxf or .dwg format, then verifies the drawing and revision number. Price, currency and payment terms should be in compliance with the terms and conditions agreed upon with the customer. Finally, sold-to, ship-to, bill-to addresses and shipping conditions are verified.
The order management process is different depending on the status of the product in our ERP system.
For an existing product previously produced and requested for reorder, we are able to reuse data on hand through our ERP system. However, if the drawing, revision number or upgrade is altered we will either cancel and replace the existing product-related data or create a new set of product-related data. Therefore, please always notify your changes to your point of contact so we can keep control and traceability of product-related data in our ERP system. Previous versions of the product may already be on stock or currently in production, they may be shipped to customer or destroyed.
For a new product, we first complete a feasibility check once the PO is entered into our system. The drawing is the main document that needs to be checked. The information in the PO and the drawing should perfectly match. To evaluate feasibility, we use our design guideline as a reference unless there are other applicable documents such as technical specifications and quality agreements. In most cases and depending on agreements with each specific customer, we release a drawing for customer´s approval before the start of production.
Our drawing contains important information for your review since it will be the reference for tools and parameters used in production. The dimensions in our drawing are taken from your picture, unless they were not compliant with either our design guideline or the applicable specification and agreements. The dimensions that must be measured and for which a measurement report of each production lot is expected by the customer are indicated as circles in our drawing. Special product characteristics which are either important for the substrates´ function or critical to safety are marked with specific icons.
Additional information typically is included but not limited to generic tolerances, surface finish, laser side and method of delivery. In instances of a delivery in master card format, the position and size of the ink dots for defective single units are defined. The areas for the die attach and wire bonding are indicated on the drawing with their specification regarding voids and etch holes. If there is no valid specification agreed upon with the customer, our standard specification applies. This information is particularly important for our operators during visual inspection before shipment.
When in doubt, our team will ask for confirmation before we start production as this is the most critical step. Any mistake or misunderstanding at this stage may lead to disappointment, higher costs and longer delays when the products are finished and delivered. For the samples´ production, a feasibility study may be possible for the evaluation of dimensions or parameters which are not compliant with our design guideline or valid specifications and agreements.
Once technical details and product-related data have been checked and the feasibility has been confirmed, our production planning department determines the lead time to provide a delivery date with the order acknowledgement. We strive to reduce the time from order intake until order acknowledgement as much as possible but this may take a few days depending on the complexity of the feasibility check. Standard lead times for curamik® substrates may vary between four to ten weeks as they strongly depend on the required product characteristics and product extensions. Shorter lead times are possible but depend on current workload and available capacity in each department, we will do our best to respond in favor of your request.
Production tools and documents including machine settings, measurements and tests need to be conducted during production as a part of our statistical process control and prepared for our production staff. For first samples and products with special requests, our prototyping department implements and provides necessary instructions to our operators and process engineers; while standard products run through our production floor without any additional support. Our production planning department tracks the order status and can quickly identify any undesired delay in production and can inform your customer service representative to proactively notify you about a new shipping date. Otherwise, you can expect to receive the goods at the promised date. Again, please keep in mind that the delivered quantity may not perfectly match the ordered quantity, as the result of yield variation differ from batch to batch. For products in mass production, the delivered quantity may differ from ordered quantity by +/- 10%. For samples in small quantities, this variation can be as much as +/-20%.
As a customer, it is expected for the order management process to work seamlessly from the time you send us the PO to the moment the package arrives at your facility. At Rogers you can count on a team of passionate people who care about your order satisfaction and are eager to provide the best service. Do you have any question or require some information about the order status? Please contact us, if you need assistance.
Please, stay safe and healthy. We are happy to be of assistance and appreciate your loyalty to Rogers.
Related Products:
ROLINX Busbars, curamik Ceramic Substrates, curamik Cooling Solutions
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Olivier's Twist Blog
Published on May 01, 2020