Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 91 Within 3 times

2019 12 Month 14 Day.

MicroSensing Semiconductor's cleanroom starts operating at 5 a.m.

This is the first complete trial production of the process after Su Chen provided the improved plan. All three aspects of the improvement are in place: deep hardening temperature control (PID feedback loop), wafer stress relief (parameter adjustment), and packaging humidity (window reset).

Huang Zhihua arrived at four in the morning. He was monitoring the real-time data of every step in the control room outside the clean room. Lin Shiming also came today—the old man usually only comes three days a week, but today he arrived in Wuxi a day early.

Su Chen arrived at nine o'clock in the morning. He didn't go into the cleanroom. He watched the data stream on the screen in the monitoring room.

The temperature data for the deep hardening process has stabilized at ±1.1 degree Celsius, nearly double the improvement compared to ±2.1 degree Celsius before the modification.

The uniformity of stress release in the discs is 12 percent better than the previous batch.

Humidity control during the packaging process is functioning normally within the new window.

By noon, the first batch of complete IMU chips emerged from the end of the packaging line.

Huang Zhihua carried the first batch of samples into the testing room. He personally operated the low-temperature testing platform.

Test protocol: The IMU is cooled from room temperature to -15 degrees Celsius and maintained for two hours, and the temperature drift data is recorded.

The whole process takes three hours.

Su Chen waited in the monitoring room. Zhao Jiancheng stood beside him. Lin Shiming sat in the corner. None of the three spoke.

At 3:15 p.m., Huang Zhihua walked out of the testing room.

He was holding a printed data sheet in his hand. He was walking faster than usual.

He walked up to Su Chen and placed the data sheet on the table.

"Low-temperature drift. The Bosch BMI088's baseline value under the same conditions is 0.05 degrees Celsius per hour. Previous data from Weisen was 0.25 degrees Celsius per hour. Bosch's is five times higher."

He paused for a moment.

"This batch—0.14 degrees Celsius per hour."

Zhao Jiancheng immediately did the math in his head. 0.14 divided by 0.05 equals 2.8.

Two and a half times that of Bosch.

It dropped from five times to two point eight times.

One round of improvements. One trial production. The temperature drift at low temperatures decreased by nearly half.

Zhao Jiancheng's hand paused on the table for two seconds. Then he slowly stood up.

"President Su."

He didn't say anything more. But there was a tremor in his voice. It wasn't excitement—it was the kind of emotion one feels when someone suddenly sees a way out of a predicament.

Huang Zhihua added from the side. His voice was softer than usual.

"This is only the first round. All three stages involve minor modifications. Major changes haven't been implemented yet."

"What is a major overhaul?" Zhao Jiancheng asked.

Huang Zhihua looked at Su Chen.

Su Chen picked up the data sheet from the table and glanced at it. His expression didn't change much. 0.14—slightly higher than the 0.12 he simulated in the virtual environment. There's always a margin of error between reality and virtuality. But the direction is correct.

"I'm already preparing the second round of solutions," Su Chen said. "The core is a structural change in the packaging process. It's not a parameter adjustment—it's a modification to the tooling fixtures. This modification requires the cooperation of Engineer Huang's team. It will take about a week to make the tooling."

"Expected results?" Huang Zhihua asked.

"If the humidity control precision in the packaging process can be improved by another level, the low-temperature drift can be reduced to about twice that of Bosch. Combined with a small modification to the inner wall of the deep-hardening furnace in the third round—the ultimate goal is to be within 1.5 times that of Bosch."

"One and a half times," Huang Zhihua repeated. His voice carried the cautiousness characteristic of a technician. "One and a half times is sufficient to meet the usage standards of most drone-grade IMUs."

"Yes. 1.5 times isn't 75 points. But it's enough for MicroSense to become Hongyuan's backup supplier."

Huang Zhihua nodded.

Lin Shiming picked up his teacup in the corner. He took a sip. Then he spoke.

"Mr. Su, I've been with Bosch for forty years. I've witnessed six major process improvements. Each one required at least six months and an investment of tens of millions of marks. You reduced the temperature drift by nearly half in just eleven days and 150,000 RMB."

He put down his teacup.

"I won't ask you how you did it. I just want to say one thing—you're on the right path. Keep going."

Su Chen nodded to the old man.

That night, Su Chen returned to the hotel. He called Zhou Ming.

"Old Zhou, the results of the first round of trial production are in. The low-temperature temperature drift has decreased from five times that of Bosch to 2.8 times."

"It dropped by almost half in just one round?"

"Yes. But this is only the first step. The goal is to be within 1.5 times. We'll need two or three more rounds."

"Timeline?"

"The third round should be completed by the end of January. If all goes well, the final process verification data should be available by early February."

"Understood. The F4 production line in Shenzhen is operating normally. The SDK alliance has signed two new contracts. The contract approval with China Southern Power Grid has entered the final stage—a result is expected in mid-January."

"good."

"There's one more thing," Zhou Ming paused, "The Falcon S2 Pro sold 38,000 units in its first month. The F4's sales dropped to 2,100 units in November."

"I know. No price reduction. The F5 timeline remains unchanged."

"clear."

Su Chen hung up the phone.

He walked to the window. The night in Wuxi in mid-December already felt completely like winter. The streetlights outside the window stood out sharply in the cold air.

The wall is still there. But the ladder has already been set up to the third rung.

The first stage – the PCBA production line at Zheng's OEM factory. Completed in September.

The second level – the cooperation agreement with MicroSense. Completed in October.

Level 3 – First round of process improvements. Completed today.

Two more levels. Second round of improvements. Third round of improvements.

Then—within 1.5 times.

Then microsensors can become insurance in Hongyuan's sensor supply chain.

Then that wall was no longer a wall.

He drew the curtains and returned to his desk. On the desk lay a draft of the second round of plans—modification drawings for the packaging tooling fixture.

He picked up his pen and continued writing.