The Innovation of Service-Life Effectiveness

Technical innovation in this age of integrated electronics may be viewed as three interrelated ``people processes,´´ each aimed at either improving cost, performance, or reliability¿three criteria of system effectiveness that allow choice and evaluation of alternate solutions to a problem. These tradeoffs must be chosen on the basis of an overall criterion of system effectiveness, such as service, to be measured by performance per total annual dollar of expense. Materials, devices, and systems are the specialist levels of innovation in integrated electronics. Each level performs four basic functions including 1) formulation of requirements on the entity as a whole, 2) establishment, by analysis, of a design theory based on a hypothesized model, 3) exploration of methods for fabricating structures to meet specified requirements, and 4) development of test methods to measure the actual functions produced. These functions must be iterated for performance, cost, and reliability. When cost and reliability are added to performance as equally important requirements, design, reliability, and manufacturing people all must influence tradeoff decisions. This complexity is illustrated by examining, on only the devices level, the kinds of information that must be generated and combined in the three iterations for performance, cost, and reliability. (A discussion of the development of semiconductor devices for the Telstar® satellite further illustrates some of these points.) It is concluded that the virtue of developing a well-ordered structure for such a complex innovation process lies in calling for the right kinds of information at the right time, and identifying missing knowledge.