A critical decision for any tech-based start-up is the decision to move a new technology out of the lab and into production.
- Lab equipment is seldom the same as that used in production.
- The total volume of experience in the lab is seldom large enough to make a statistically compelling case for projecting factory performance and yield.
- Development technologists generally do not have a strong sense of external market dynamics or the time scale of factory development when the timing of market entry is also critical to success.
As a result, companies frequently go to market too early, not understanding their actual readiness and the hurdles and timeline of large scale manufacturing; or too late, having been too tentative about their ability to understand and overcome those same hurdles.
Once a factory is fully operational there is a natural evolution in its use due to incremental improvements to process and to operational maturity. In addition, there are both incremental evolutions of the process itself, driven by Engineering, and generational improvements driven by R&D. Anticipating and planning for these evolving needs is key to maintaining factory cost effectiveness over time.
Fulcrum Technology Group provides support at each stage of this critical process. Dr. Shea has spent a career in technology development and deployment, including:
· Process evaluation – Readiness to scale or remaining obstacles to overcome
· Technology roadmap evaluation – How does the company intend its technology to evolve
and over what time.
· Tool set evaluation – Identify production scale equipment capable of cost effective
implementation of the lab process and flexibility to adapt to the technology roadmap.
· Factory design – Identify cost-effective factory scale and tool layout for low-risk start-up as
well as for process evolution and growth. Our proprietary factory throughput model has
been verified at photovoltaic factory scales from 30 MW to 500 MW annual output.
· Cost modeling.
· Site evaluation.
· Project management.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
Middle Atlantic
☎ CONTACT
steveshea@fulcrumtechgroup.com
(404) 276-6103
Plasma Application of Anti-reflection Coating
Device and process design and optimization
Advanced process development through full implementation of PERC, IBC and HJ crystalline silicon manufacturing lines.
Evaluation of technological readiness for scale.
Analysis of cost at manufacturing scale for existing lab-scale processes.
Bill of Materials (BOM) development and costing.
factory design and Construction
Factory design, process and equipment specification from 10 MW to Gigawatt scale.
Definition, development and presentation of capital projects, including definition of technical and financial performance deliverables.
Installation and start-up support.
Past projects include:
- Ground-up greenfield and brownfield designs
- Existing factory evolution from one generation of technology to the next with minimal disruption to production.
A recent project tripled the capacity of an existing factory while maintaining full production and with a total of two days downtime.
factory optimization
Existing process and plant infrastructure evaluation.
Statistical Process Control (SPC) protocol development and training, including identification of key control metrics.
Process capability, cost and sensitivity analysis.
Evaluation of existing manufacturing cost sensitivity to BOM and process yield. Recommended cost improvement areas.
Facilitation of problem solving sessions.
Process optimization through application of Design of Experiments (DOE) methods. Staff training in the use of small sample size, properly randomized trials for rapid process development.
engineering control systems Design
Design and implementation of engineering control systems, including
engineering change procedures and associated documents; engineering
change board composition and function; and staff training. The finished
system is compatible with overall quality systems certifiable under ISO.
Can also include:
ISO certification support
Environmental testing protocols
Calibration of reference cells modules and test spectra
Cell sorting algorithm design
Green Field Solar Cell Factory Design and Start-up in Cairo, Egypt
Let's talk!
Use the form below to contact me regarding your needs.