Electronics & Semiconductor

Case Study

KLA-Tencor, a manufacturer of semi-conductor manufacturing inspection tools, decided to strategically shift its global support services (training administration, technical illustrations, and technical documentation/document control) from its current California-based operations to the Asia-Pacific Rim (Singapore and Chennai, India).

This move was part of a larger corporate initiative to move manufacturing and support in order to better service KLA-Tencor’s primary client base in the Far East, and reduce operating costs. They called on GP to help.

Understand the challenges of making a global move.

While software production for their products was in the process of being shifted to India, 90% of their hardware manufacturing (and subject matter experts to help provide content for their required documentation) were still located in the United States.

Staff reductions in manufacturing made availability of the subject matter experts even more difficult. This created the unenviable position of having writers working twelve hours away from the people they needed to gather and distill information from. Plus there was a language and cultural barrier that needed to be overcome in what is a very fast-paced, results-oriented environment.

Additionally, KLA-Tencor had no experienced talent pool for any of these services in Singapore or Chennai, India. Processes within the technical publications group were incomplete within the United States, and non-existent for off-shore production.

Some of the unique challenges facing KLA-Tencor in making this transition included:

Transferring knowledge halfway across the world while still maintaining timely and efficient production of documentation.
Creating new processes for document processing, tracking, transfer, and retention.
Staffing and training a technical publications unit, along with document control personnel, technical graphic illustrators, and training administrators.
Supporting a remote staff during normally “off” hours.

Make a smooth transition with a global expert.

KLA-Tencor partnered with GP. Having provided US-based staff-augmentation of technical writers, illustrators, and document control personnel, GP teamed with KLA to define a plan for a gradual but measured growth of a technical publications group within the newly built KLA-Tencor facilities in India.

First, GP began the recruiting process of three writers, two illustrators, and two training administrators. We also opened an office locally in Chennai to support the program.

Training plans were created and implemented for all aspects of the technical publications, illustration, and document control process. GP employees from the United States and Malaysia implemented this training both in the United States and India, through a combination of written, instructor-led, video, and webcast methodologies. GP also implemented a cycle-through program with KLA-Tencor, where staff from India would come to the US for both training and direct interface/mentoring with both their project leads and their clients.

Utilizing existing, experienced GP staff members, a distinct process flow for the overall documentation process was created for every aspect and checkpoint of documentation. Part of the unique solution was creating a “project lead” position, whereby a GP writer with project management experience became the conduit between the documentation customers in the U.S. during the day and the newly hired staff writers and illustrators in India during the night. This provided the writers with an invaluable mentor for process and policies, and also satisfied the KLA-Tencor client’s need for real time interface during the life of the project.

The GP project leads also suggested process “tweaks” and improvements to KLA management, who successfully co-implemented them to increase efficiency in a continuous process-improvement process. With the success of the project lead role, GP worked with KLA-Tencor to identify key staff members within their own organization to mirror the GP model, thereby transferring more ownership of the process to KLA-Tencor.

Discover the benefits of working with GP.

KLA-Tencor realized many benefits from working with GP on their move to India, including:

Defined, streamlined processes—Where processes were incomplete or missing, GP worked with KLA to produce efficient procedures that allowed them to begin the transition of global support services offshore with the added ability to track and monitor the progress of documentation throughout its life-cycle from planning to release.
Reduced operating costs—Using a blended pricing rate, GP was able to help KLA-Tencor reduce its overall operating costs for global support services by approximately 50%, allowing the client to achieve its financial goals and remain competitive within the marketplace.
Enhanced efficiency—Tracking shows that production of released documentation has increased steadily over the past 12 months, with reduced costs. Customer satisfaction surveys also indicate that within one year of the GP program’s implementation, the overall quality of the documentation, as measured by accuracy, structure, flow, and relevancy of the information within the documents, has increased nearly 15%.
Customer acceptance—KLA-Tencor’s internal documentation clients were very reluctant to work with offshore resources, fearing for decreased quality and higher processing time. However, with the combination of the policies and programs outlined in this case study, clients have come to expect the same (if not improved) level of quality and speed they had previously been used to with United States resources. The number of staff has resultantly grown from 6 to 20 to support the company’s initiatives.

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