Page 6 – Spirit Electronics

Intelligent Memory Added to Spirit Line Card

Intelligent Memory high-mix, low-volume DDR, DRAM and NAND flash now at Spirit Electronics

Spirit Electronics announces authorized distribution for Intelligent Memory high-mix low-volume DDR, DRAM and NAND flash memory components. IM memory is especially important to aerospace and defense customers as a form, fit and function drop-in replacement for obsoleted or end-of-life products of other memory manufacturers.

With a focus on ruggedized, industrial and legacy requirements, IM offers flexible and reliable memory options that can be customized to unique applications and challenging environments.

Intelligent Memory is positioned as a one-stop-shop memory supplier, complementing Spirit’s business model as a one-stop distribution, test and assembly company within the aerospace and defense supply chain. “We share the same approach to delivering reliable and ready-to-launch solutions for our customers,” Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy explains. “Intelligent Memory expands our memory offering to meet the exact size, speed, temperature and performance our customer programs require.”

Intelligent Memory is a fabless memory manufacturer owning design, development, test and manufacturing of unique DRAM components and modules. The brand works with tier-one fabricators and in-house design, testing and quality controls. All IM products are JEDEC compliant, and Spirit’s in-house screening and qualification can elevate product data and reliability to meet strict military standard and aerospace requirements.

As space and defense programs expand to meet faster production timelines, Spirit has seen particular supply chain needs around DDR memory and programs that depend on legacy memory or struggle to replace obsolete memory products. IM memory offers a variety of configurations, densities, features and packaging, including the first DDR3 8GB single-chip component. Many IM products are backwards compatible with those of other memory manufacturers.

Spirit Electronics offers Intelligent Memory alongside a comprehensive line card of authorized industry-leading components, including FPGAs and other integrated circuits. In addition to distribution, Spirit provides MIL-STD-883 testing, radiation testing, solder exchange and circuit card assembly in-house, making it a unique supply chain partner capable of managing complex aerospace program logistics.

About Spirit Electronics:Spirit Electronics is a value-added distributor of a wide range of electronic components, testing, circuit board assembly and logistics services. Spirit’s supply chain solutions are changing the definition of distribution by providing in-house value-added services to deliver products to aerospace and defense customers fully qualified and ready to use. Spirit is a veteran-owned, woman-owned small business (VOWOSB) with HUBZone certification in Phoenix, AZ.

Lockheed Martin Space Outstanding Small Business for 2022

Lockheed Martin Outstanding Small Business 2022

Spirit Electronics is proud to announce its selection as an Outstanding Small Business for Lockheed Martin’s Space division for 2022. One of only five suppliers in the country to receive the award, Spirit achieved 100% on-time-delivery and 99.45% quality scores. Spirit provides Lockheed Martin Space with authorized distribution and full-turnkey test and assembly for microelectronics and semiconductors.

The Lockheed Space division estimates it will spend approximately $5.4 billion in 2022 with small businesses, generating economic growth and taking advantage of small business strengths in innovation and agility. Lockheed Martin Space’s Orion program alone includes 2,900 suppliers, with approximately 50% being small businesses like Spirit.

“This is truly a team effort to win service awards and recognition from our customers,” says Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy. “From our dedicated account representatives to our sales and purchasing, our warehouse inspectors, our lab, our quality and even admin teams, everyone at Spirit pours excellence into their work. It shows in our processes, customer satisfaction and relationships.”

Spirit is a woman-owned, veteran-owned and HUBZone certified small business. In the past 5 years, the team has grown from under ten to more than thirty employees. Spirit purchased and renovated a 16,000sf facility in a historically underutilized business zone in Phoenix in 2019. Spirit expanded from its roots as an authorized microelectronics and semiconductor distributor to offer MIL-STD-883 testing services, BGA solder exchange and an in-house circuit board assembly line.

“This team truly embodies the tenacity and personal service of a small business,” says McCurdy. “We are on a mission to redefine the supply chain by bringing multiple services and efficiency under one supplier for our customers, and this award shows we are achieving that with the best quality of service.”

Ep. 45: ASIC Dive: How to Maximize Time to Market and Program Cost with ASIC Test Programs

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 45: ASIC Dive: How to Maximize Time to Market and Program Cost with ASIC Test Programs

Zef Malik returns for an ASIC dive discussing the process and benefits to electrical test programs for ASICs. With the design access and knowledge in already part of an ASIC program, testing and qualifying an ASIC can quickly deliver ASIC devices ready-to-use with reliability.

Listen to Zef and Marti discuss:

(2:24) Benchmarking an ASIC

(6:01) The System on a Chip Market

(7:10) How ASIC Electrical Test Fits in the Full-Turnkey Screen & Qual

(11:00) Burn-In, Qualification Challenges, and Simplifying Test Programs

(14:00) Cost Improvement with ASIC Testing and Wafer-Level Test

(16:00) Product Roadmap and the Return of US Manufacturing

Ep. 44: ASIC Dive: Managing Foundry Selection & Packaging to Maximize Your Program Advantage

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 44: ASIC Dive: Managing Foundry Selection & Packaging to Maximize Your Program Advantage

Spirit VP Zef Malik remembers the early days of the ASIC industry. While the FPGA and international manufacturing moved aerospace and defense away from ASIC programs, Zef sees ASIC programming growing and changing as domestic manufacturing returns.

Listen to Zef and Marti discuss the technological ASIC advantages and how to maximize these benefits through foundry services and packaging selection.

(1:55) ASICs in the Early Years

(4:35) ASIC Design Compatibility & Foundry Selection

(8:25) Silicon Valley Memory Lane & Return to Domestic Design

(12:30) ASICs, Power & Performance Advantages

Semiconductor Failure Analysis Techniques

Semiconductor Failure Analysis – Enhancing Reliability

Semiconductor failure analysis occupies a prominent position among high-tech fabricators. Even the most sophisticated ICs fail, and when they do, it’s critical that engineers and fabricators discover the root causes of the failure, so as to avoid the same issues in subsequent designs.

Semiconductor analysis can, therefore, enhance semiconductor reliability by addressing observed shortcomings in design and fabrication and then avoiding them in the future.

Semiconductor failure analysis initially involves pinpointing the nature of the failure. Semiconductor failures can be broadly grouped into two categories: functional failures and parametric failures. A functional failure means the device failed in its intended function, while parametric failures mean the device’s function lies outside the specifications for a measurable characteristic.

Parametric failures have nothing to do with the intended functionality of the device. The initial phase of semiconductor failure analysis then calls for failure verification in which the failure is identified and categorized.

The next phase of testing seeks to localize the exact origin and causes of the failure. To achieve that goal, semiconductor failure analysis will subject the device to various forms of testing, some non-destructive, and others destructive.

Obviously, one must exercise caution in moving on to the destructive semiconductor failure analysis techniques, as they will render any other forms of testing impracticable. Some of the non-destructive semiconductor failure analysis techniques include optical microscopy, X-ray radiography, curve tracing and hermeticity testing. Destructive techniques include decapsulation, sectioning, microprobing, SIMS, LIMS and chromatography.

Together, these techniques will enable analysts to pinpoint the location and nature of the semiconductor failure. However, care must be taken to compare the results of various semiconductor failure analysis techniques to eliminate faulty conclusions based on conflicting results. Reliable semiconductor failure analysis requires careful examination by skillful engineers and not just the latest equipment.

Ep. 43: Basics of ASICs: How a Multi-Functional ASIC Shortens Lead Times and Secures Your Supply Chain

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 43: Basics of ASICs: How a Multi-Functional ASIC Shortens Lead Times and Secures Your Supply Chain

Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) can combine multi-functional components into a single chip. With long lead times and rising prices across the industry, you can own your custom IC, shorten lead times and reduce long-term costs.

Spirit’s expertise helps you through the up-front design and engineering to make a full ASIC program possible. In this episode, Marti covers the steps and benefits to running an ASIC program.

Hear about:

(1:30) Types of ASICs

(4:57) Engineering & design support

(8:05) Foundry & fabrication

(11:10) Substrate & packaging

(11:50) Testing the full range of an ASIC

(14:05) Storage & banking

Ep. 42: How the CHIPS Act Will Impact Services and Supply Chain Around Semiconductor Manufacturing

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 42: How the CHIPS Act Will Impact Services and Supply Chain Around Semiconductor Manufacturing

The CHIPS (“Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors”) Act passed in July authorizes more than $200 billion in federal funds and incentives to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

While the main goal is manufacturing, the CHIPS Act also addresses the services, labor and supply chain that support semiconductor production. Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy discusses in this episode what areas of the supply chain could see additional investment and support.

Also critical to supporting semiconductor manufacturing are resources like substrate manufacturing and testing services. Marti discusses how Spirit is positioned to help customers stay ahead of these unexpected constraints.

Ep. 41: Automating the Supply Chain: How to Develop an Enterprise Resource Planning System

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 41: Automating the Supply Chain: How to Develop an Enterprise Resource Planning System

Our JD Edwards Oracle enterprise resource planning software is a big system for a small business. Used by Fortune 500 companies, it can manage manufacturing, materials, work, and finances. But whenSpirit Electronics implemented it several years ago, our processes only used maybe 5-10% of the program’s capabilities.

With investment and Megan’s studied expertise, JDE has given Spirit’s processes electronic automation above and beyond what most small business achieve. JDE touches all our departments and workflows and has been a cornerstone in Spirit’s team and business growth.

In this episode, find out how Megan’s programming has helped automate the business and secure resources and data in the aerospace & defense supply chain.

Ep. 40: How Spirit Vertically Integrates Component Testing Under One Stop in the Supply Chain

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 40: How Spirit Vertically Integrates Component Testing Under One Stop in the Supply Chain

The chambers are whirring and ovens firing in Spirit’s on-site test lab. What’s the buzz around adding so many options for testing under the same roof as authorized electronic component distribution and circuit board assembly?

Marti McCurdy covers the order flow at the Spirit Electronics facility, including:

(2:47) The “umbrella” of services Spirit offers

(6:00) Value-added test services compared to longer testing programs

(7:20) System-level testing

(8:10) Electrical and environmental testing

(8:50) Radiation testing

Marti explains the critical piece of managing complex test programs is understanding the customer requirements.

Ep. 39: Spirit Gives Foundation: Nonprofit Update and Upcoming Events Fall 2022

Get the inside scoop on industry news and technology!

In this podcast, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy talks with aerospace and defense experts about high-reliability components and industry-rocking topics affecting the supply chain.

Ep. 39: Spirit Gives Foundation: Nonprofit Update and Upcoming Events Fall 2022

Spirit Gives is our nonprofit foundation working to give local kids quality childhood experiences and support.

CEO Marti McCurdy covers our current mission and successes and the next big events lined up for this fall 2022.

Find out more about how to support through volunteering, gift basket purchases, and ticket teasers for our Halloween Boogie Bash.