Cost Of Ownership Calculations Research Articles

How an industry standard may enhance the mediating capacity of calculations: Cost of ownership in the semiconductor industry

Drawing on a field study of the semiconductor industry, we look at a standard for interorganizational management accounting—more specifically, for cost of ownership (COO) in the semiconductor industry. These COO calculations are inscriptions that make the costs of manufacturing processes and products of integrated circuit manufacturers visible to other organizations in the industry. COO calculations mediate between these organizations by guiding their R&D and capital equipment investment decisions. We consider how the standard that defines the method for calculating COO enhanced the mediating capacity of COO calculations. Drawing on Robson’s (1992) notions of mobility, stability, and combinability, we find that the standard provided a common understanding when COO calculations were exchanged and compared to targets. At the same time, the standard provided adaptability that was needed for COO calculations to be mediating instruments. Adaptability meant that companies could significantly modify calculations by inserting private data and adjusting the manufacturing setting and products. Further, companies could switch between default values of the standard and their own proprietary data, and they could use the standard to a greater or lesser extent by selectively applying different parts of the standard. The standard enabled different versions of COO calculations to coexist, which would be similar and commonly understood in exchanges but for internal use, different versions could be calculated and used.

Silicon-Light: a European project aiming at high efficiency thin film silicon solar cells on foil

In the European project Silicon-Light we developed concepts and technologies to increase conversion efficiencies of thin film silicon solar cells on foil. Main focus was put on improved light management, using NIL for creating light scattering textures, improved TCOs using sputtering, and improved silicon absorber material made by PECVD. On foil we achieved initial cell efficiencies of 11% and on rigid substrates stable efficiencies of 11.6% were achieved. Finally, the project demonstrated the industrial scale feasibility of the developed technologies and materials. Cost of ownership calculations showed that implementation of these technologies on large scale would enable the production of these high efficiency solar modules at manufacturing cost of 0.65 €/Wp with encapsulation costs (0.20 €/Wp) being the dominant costs. Life cycle analysis showed that large scale production of modules based on the technologies developed in Silicon-Light would have an energy payback time of 0.85 years in Central European countries.

Low temperature Si epitaxy in a vertical LPCVD batch reactor

Silicon epitaxy on wafers is becoming more and more important for substrates in CMOS mass production, and has traditionally been used for bipolar and BiCMOS devices. This paper presents a new process solution in a vertical low-pressure chemical vapor deposition reactor allowing low cost batch processing for deposition of thin Silicon epitaxial layers at temperatures not exceeding 800°C. In situ cleaning of wafers in the reactor prior to the SiH 4 deposition process shows significant influence on the quality of epitaxial layers. The problem of deposition on hot reactor walls has been solved by integration of remote plasma enhanced dry etching. We will present test results demonstrating the capabilities of the epitaxy process in this new tool. Finally, cost of ownership calculations will be presented showing the economic attraction of this new solution in comparison with single-wafer high temperature techniques.

The Impact of Reverse Logistics on the Total Cost of Ownership

Reverse logistics can have a significant impact on the cost of owning an item, and is an important factor to consider in calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO), when making a purchasing decision. Frameworks for calculating TCO are presented from the literature. Then, the impact of reverse logistics on each of these costs is discussed. The importance of including disposal and end-of-life costs in any total cost of ownership calculation is also discussed.Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a structured approach for determining the total costs associated with the acquisition and subsequent use of a given item or service from a given supplier (Carr and Ittner, 1992). An important area for consideration in TCO is the cost associated with product returns (LaLonde and pohlen, 1996). Reverse logistics (RL) is the process of moving products the “wrong way,” from the customer back to the supplier. Many of these costs are affected by the presence of a reverse logistics system, and this should be taken into account in the calculation of total costs of ownership.