Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 35, First Slash

2019 12 Month 21 Day.

The second round of tooling and fixture modifications took a week.

During the week, Su Chen spent his days on the packaging production line at MicroSense, working with Huang Zhihua's team to design new tooling solutions. In the evenings, he would return to his hotel and go to the virtual disassembly lab to verify each parameter node.

The core change to the tooling fixtures lies in humidity control during the packaging process. MicroSense's existing packaging fixtures are open—the wafers are directly exposed to the humidity of the cleanroom environment during the packaging process. However, Su Chen discovered in a virtual environment that if a semi-enclosed microenvironment cover is added to the packaging station, compressing the local humidity fluctuations to one-third of the overall cleanroom humidity, the packaging yield can be improved by nearly 20%.

This microenvironment is not complicated. It consists of a stainless steel frame, an anti-static transparent film, and a miniature dehumidification module. The cost is 30,000 yuan. The production cycle is five days.

However, it requires precise installation location and dehumidification module flow parameters. Su Chen measured twelve combinations of these two parameters in the virtual environment and finally selected one.

The microenvironment cover was installed on the morning of December 21.

Huang Zhihua personally inspected every sealing point. During the inspection, he paused and glanced at Su Chen.

"The design concept behind this microenvironment enclosure—I've seen a similar concept in an internal Bosch technical report before. But Bosch's version is much more complex and weather-resistant. Your simplified solution—"

"Ten times lower cost," Su Chen added.

"Yes. Ten times cheaper. But the precision is sufficient for current micro-sensing needs." Huang Zhihua nodded. "That's a very smart engineering decision."

Su Chen noticed that this was the first time Huang Zhihua had used the word "liaoming" (meaning "to explain") in his proposal.

The second round of full trial production began that afternoon.

The next day at 3 PM.

Huang Zhihua walked much faster than usual when he came out of the testing room. The data sheet in his hand was trembling slightly.

"Low temperature drift. 0.09 degrees Celsius per hour."

Zhao Jiancheng did the math in his head. 0.09 divided by Bosch's 0.05 equals 1.8.

Bosch's 1.8 times.

The ratio dropped from 2.8 times in the first round to 1.8 times.

In the three weeks since the agreement was signed, the low-temperature drift has decreased from five times that of Bosch to 1.8 times.

Zhao Jiancheng slowly stood up. His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Lin Shiming sat in the corner. He slowly put down his teacup.

"Mr. Su," the old man said, "one and a half times has already reached the 2023 target I set for MicroSense. You achieved this in three weeks."

"Not yet," Su Chen said. "The target is within 1.5 times. One more round to go."

Huang Zhihua turned around.

"Is the third round of modifications to the inner wall of the deep-hardened furnace?"

"Yes. Corrosion on the furnace lining releases trace amounts of impurities during high-temperature processes. These impurities are negligible at room temperature, but they are amplified during low-temperature testing. Therefore, the furnace lining needs to be cleaned and recoated."

"This modification requires Boiler No. 2 to be shut down for two days."

"Yes. But No. 1 furnace can continue running during the shutdown."

"cost?"

"About two hundred thousand. The coating material isn't cheap."

Zhao Jiancheng looked at Su Chen.

"President Su, this two hundred thousand—"

"I can feel it slightly," Su Chen said.

Zhao Jiancheng nodded. He didn't hesitate.

Meanwhile, industry media have already noticed the movements of MicroSense.

Although neither Su Chen nor Zhao Jiancheng released any specific data, some engineers within Weigan revealed in industry WeChat groups that the "improvement results exceeded expectations." Without specific figures, the phrase "exceeded expectations" is enough.

A reporter from 36Kr posted on Weibo: "According to multiple sources, Su Chen has completed two rounds of process improvements to the micro-sensing technology. The third round is underway. Insiders revealed that the results 'significantly exceeded expectations.' Specific data has not yet been released."

This Weibo post was forwarded more than 30,000 times within twelve hours.

The sentiment in the comments section began to shift. The tech blogger who previously posted a video titled "Why I'm Pessimistic About Su Chen" updated his post: "If the inside information is true, my previous judgment may need to be revised. Waiting for official data."

At Bosch's Shanghai R&D center, a mid-level manager who wished to remain anonymous wrote in an internal email: "We are closely monitoring the progress of Microsensor. If Su Chen's improvements can truly reduce Microsensor's temperature drift to less than twice that of ours—this will change the landscape of the drone sensor supply chain."

The email was forwarded to the desk of the president of Bosch's global sensor business unit.

In Haotai Capital's Hong Kong office, Xu Lang's former assistant forwarded the Weibo post to Xu Lang. Xu Lang then forwarded the screenshot to Su Chen, adding, "Mr. Su, Bosch has started making moves. They will be more cautious with their pricing strategy for Hongyuan from now on. This is a good thing."

After reading it, Su Chen replied with only one word: "Received".

Then he continued writing down the last few parameters of the third round of solutions in his notebook.