Service

Spansion believes that quality and reliability go hand-in-hand with service. Our success depends on timely and effective responses to customer requests and issues, so we implement policies designed to help ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Being responsive to our customers’ needs is crucial and setting our customers’ expectation is important. At Spansion, we use our 2/2/2 RESPONSE model to guide our response processes. The 2/2/2 model advises a two-hour, two-day, or two-week response time to customer inquiries, depending on their nature. Requests for information can typically be handled in two hours, while more complex requests such as specification reviews and questionnaires, might require up to two weeks.

Spansion customers can expect:

• Rapid response to device-related problems
• Thorough review of product specifications
• Proper notification of changes
• Streamlined process for returns
• Access to skilled field technical engineers
• Tailored services for automotive needs
• An on-going effort to provide even better service

Details

• Rapid response to device-related problems.
  Spansion follows the industry-accepted “8 Discipline Process” to manage the return and analysis of products that have failed in a customer application. This process, which found its roots in JESD671 “Component Quality Problem Analysis and Corrective Action Requirements (Including Administrative Quality Problems),” gives customers a mechanism to request device analysis and corrective action. Spansion has gone beyond the JEDEC standard by integrating other elements prescribed by ISO/TS 16949:2002. This provides a strict, single process that we call our Customer Corrective Action Request (CCAR) system. Spansion employees work to acknowledge inquiries within 24 hours; verify a problem within 48 hours; and identify the root cause and propose a suggested corrective action within 10 calendar days. The large majority of units returned back to Spansion for analysis are found to be No Fault Found (NFF). That means device(s) have passed all of Spansion’s package-level testing at three temperatures. In this case, Spansion field technical engineers will continue to work with customers to understand the cause of the failure. The problem isn’t solved until the customer is satisfied.
• Thorough review of product specifications.
  Our thorough review of product specifications begins with a review of general specifications by one cross-functional team that shares its results with all sites. Then, detailed product drawings and specifications are reviewed and all sites are bound to mutually agreed-upon requirements. Finally, Spansion creates the processing specs and/or customer-specific flows required to produce an acceptable product. The product must meet the requirements defined by the final approved agreement between Spansion and the customer. The process for responding to the customer generally falls into the two-week category.
• Proper notification of changes.
  Spansion’s Advanced Change Notification policy is based on JEDEC46 “Customer Notification of Product/Process Changes by Semiconductor Suppliers.” Notification of changes that affect the form, fit, function and reliability of our products and processes is sent to the customer 90 days prior to implementation, in an effort to avoid significant impact on the intended application.
• Streamlined process for returns.
  All Spansion decision-makers have access to an electronic system for authorized return of our products. Customers can return products as long as they meet specific criteria and are shipped in accordance with the requirements of the Spansion Corporate Returns Procedure. If appropriate, Spansion will repair or replace the product or provide credit pursuant to its standard terms and conditions of sale.
• Access to skilled field technical engineers.
  Spansion employs a worldwide group of experienced and highly skilled engineers to support our customers at their location. Our field quality engineers work with both customers and internal Spansion teams to promote a two-way dialogue in support of customers’ technical quality, reliability and service needs. Our field application engineers work to support our customers’ application design process. These teams work closely together to help ensure all of our customer technical needs are met.
• Tailored services for automotive needs.
  In addition to providing automotive grade (TS) products and following stringent automotive qualification guidelines, Spansion supports the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), an industry-standard process for ensuring the availability of appropriate documentation and specification of parts used in automotive markets.
• An on-going effort to provide even better service.
  With a continued eye toward improvement, Spansion constantly monitors customer satisfaction. Our Customer Satisfaction Program is based on four different, but related, components: our annual Customer Relationship Survey; our quarterly Customer Perception Report; our internal customer-facing Key Performance Indicators; and our Scorecard Performance Management program. The ongoing results are factored into every decision we make at Spansion.

For more information and detail on Spansion service policies, please see our comprehensive Spansion Quality Manual.