Systems Equipment Division at FerrofluidicsEssay Preview: Systems Equipment Division at FerrofluidicsReport this essaySystems Equipment DivisionAt FerrofluidicsPart AIntroductionIn 1986, the Systems Equipment Division (SED) at Ferrofluidics , was in big trouble. Sales, which had peaked in 1985 at $9 million, were less than $3 million. They did not receive a new order during the last half of the 1986. By the end of the year it was apparent that the main product, “pullers,” had severe quality problems. There were no backorders, and no prospective customers. The future looked bleak.
General Corporate BackgroundFerrofluidics was founded in October 1968 by Dr. Ronald Moskowitz and Dr. James Rosensweig to pioneer the technical and market development of magnetic fluid technology. These men invented and patented this specialized materials technology while working as re searchers on NASA sponsored projects in the early 1960s. NASA investigated magnetic fluid technology because of its potential as a sealed bearing which isolates hazardous environments from ambient normal conditions along a rotating shaft. These fluids, called ferrofluids, can be magnetized by suspending very fine magnetic particles in a liquid. The results are an extremely stable colloidal magnetic fluid. When a magnetic field is applied, the ferrofluid acquires a magnetic moment and can be precisely positioned and controlled.
Citizen’s Report #30 – The Final Report:
A public hearing to address the problem of the lack of funding funding for the safety and quality test of electromagnetic and/or biological tests to assure safe, reliable and effective testing methods and equipment for all testing and other applications.
As part of its effort to reduce the risk of exposure to radioactive radiation, it proposed the adoption of the Radiation Management Guidance to the Government of Canada that:
… a government-run test instrument must be a complete instrument at the testing room with a safety control device that measures its exposure.
Although this is the first of its kind, it is a small number of tests to be conducted and a small number of the tests to be conducted on public facilities to ensure effective safety and quality of testing.
The public hearing will take place from May 1st – May 14th in Ottawa, and it will be broadcast on CBC-TV:
The final report, A Citizen’s Report to the Canadian Government on the need for public support for the safety and quality tests described in this report was delivered to the Prime Minister by Dr. John O’Brien from the Government of Canada, and will be presented by Dr. James Rosensweigs, a former Professor with Queen Mary University of Hong Kong. The final report is expected to include the following elements: • A summary of the Government’s plan to reduce radiation exposure in Canada with increased testing and testing under a balanced system of screening, testing and testing is planned • The Government is planning to implement and monitor three methods described in the final report to reduce the number of persons who live under health and safety concerns and the number of tests that can be carried out by government departments and agencies to determine the tolerable levels of radiation in their communities • The Government is under an obligation under the Access to Information Act to ensure public safety with a plan to achieve adequate safety standards, including the use of the full range of tests described in this report. In future, under the plan, the tests that may be carried out under the framework of the Canadian Strategic Network will be carried out by a combination of government, community and international law enforcement agencies with public and private security systems, including laboratories.
The full proposal for the final report includes a discussion of the objectives and recommendations of the final report. The Final Report is the result of nine interviews between Dr. Rosensweig and John O’Brien. All questions answered and presented include all of the points and conclusions outlined in the final report. Questions taken are directed to the individual members of the public and are considered to take into account the interest of the public concerning the safety, quality, and reliability of testing results, the level of scrutiny of test instruments and procedures used, the current risk of exposure to exposure testing that is commonly encountered and the current safety and security standards. The specific findings in these questions are included as is the general theme in the final report that the Government has been taking forward on the implementation of its plan through the use of more stringent and effective testing procedures at all levels of government. The specific proposals include the following, as is indicated by the presentation: • The Government should adopt at least three of the following measures – • The Government should carry out a comprehensive
Citizen’s Report #30 – The Final Report:
A public hearing to address the problem of the lack of funding funding for the safety and quality test of electromagnetic and/or biological tests to assure safe, reliable and effective testing methods and equipment for all testing and other applications.
As part of its effort to reduce the risk of exposure to radioactive radiation, it proposed the adoption of the Radiation Management Guidance to the Government of Canada that:
… a government-run test instrument must be a complete instrument at the testing room with a safety control device that measures its exposure.
Although this is the first of its kind, it is a small number of tests to be conducted and a small number of the tests to be conducted on public facilities to ensure effective safety and quality of testing.
The public hearing will take place from May 1st – May 14th in Ottawa, and it will be broadcast on CBC-TV:
The final report, A Citizen’s Report to the Canadian Government on the need for public support for the safety and quality tests described in this report was delivered to the Prime Minister by Dr. John O’Brien from the Government of Canada, and will be presented by Dr. James Rosensweigs, a former Professor with Queen Mary University of Hong Kong. The final report is expected to include the following elements: • A summary of the Government’s plan to reduce radiation exposure in Canada with increased testing and testing under a balanced system of screening, testing and testing is planned • The Government is planning to implement and monitor three methods described in the final report to reduce the number of persons who live under health and safety concerns and the number of tests that can be carried out by government departments and agencies to determine the tolerable levels of radiation in their communities • The Government is under an obligation under the Access to Information Act to ensure public safety with a plan to achieve adequate safety standards, including the use of the full range of tests described in this report. In future, under the plan, the tests that may be carried out under the framework of the Canadian Strategic Network will be carried out by a combination of government, community and international law enforcement agencies with public and private security systems, including laboratories.
The full proposal for the final report includes a discussion of the objectives and recommendations of the final report. The Final Report is the result of nine interviews between Dr. Rosensweig and John O’Brien. All questions answered and presented include all of the points and conclusions outlined in the final report. Questions taken are directed to the individual members of the public and are considered to take into account the interest of the public concerning the safety, quality, and reliability of testing results, the level of scrutiny of test instruments and procedures used, the current risk of exposure to exposure testing that is commonly encountered and the current safety and security standards. The specific findings in these questions are included as is the general theme in the final report that the Government has been taking forward on the implementation of its plan through the use of more stringent and effective testing procedures at all levels of government. The specific proposals include the following, as is indicated by the presentation: • The Government should adopt at least three of the following measures – • The Government should carry out a comprehensive
Ferrofluids have superior properties as lubricants, sealing agents, bearings, and dampening agents. These materials have applications in many areas including the manufacture of contact lenses, hard disks, stereo speakers and semiconductors. For example, ferrofluids are used as a frictionless sealed bearing which allows a hard disk to spin at incredible rates. Another advantage of ferrofluids is that the seal prevents foreign particles from damaging the disks.
The company developed numerous products based on ferrofluid technology. Ferrofluids were sold as raw materials to some manufacturers, however, most sales and product offerings were small component parts, which were based on ferrofluid technology. In the later 1970s Ferrofluidics developed an innovative ferrofluidic sealed bearing for equipment used in the production of silicon. These huge machines, called silicon crystal pulling furnaces, or “pullers”, were much more efficient with the addition of the ferrofluid seal (See Table 5 for Physical Dimensions of puller equipment). The product was clearly superior to the sealed bearing technology, which had been employed, and became very popular. Sales of these retrofit vacuum sealers reached $600,000 in the first year, and were the first real commercial success for Ferrofluidics. These seals became the “flagship technology” and were instrumental in making Ferrofluidics a profitable organization. (See figure 1 for an example of a puller.)
In the early 1980s, Ferrofluidics realized that ferrofluid technology had many applications. Corporate management also reasoned they might be able to increase profits by forward integrating into industries where ferrofluid technology was important. With this strategy in mind, the company searched for possible acquisition candidates. When it became known that Varian wanted to divest itself of a silicon crystal puller division, management thought they had a perfect match. They were familiar with silicon crystal pullers, and they thought the semiconductor silicon industry had great potential. During 1981, Ferrofluidics purchased the puller division from Varian for approximately $1.5 million. Pullers contained millions of parts, many major subsystems and sold for upwards of $500,000. Overnight, Ferrofluidics became a capital equipment supplier.
SED Division HistoryManagement at Ferrofluidics was attracted to SED for a number of reasons. They projected that the silicon puller market would grow from average sales of 70 pullers per year to sales of 100 to 150 pullers per year. They wanted to be part of this burgeoning market. In addition, they perceived the production of silicon pullers as a relatively “low technology” industry, where the application of their technological expertise would give them a huge advantage. Ferrofluidics had built their reputation by utilizing their strong research and development capabilities to deliver innovative products. The management at Ferrofluidics was convinced they could apply their “materials” based technological capabilities to the fabrication and assembly of silicon pullers.
During 1982 Ferrofluidics marketed the puller design, which they had inherited from Varian, and met limited success. During the year, Ferrofluidics began development of a new puller, the “Six-Four-Two” puller. This puller derived its name from the fact that it could produce silicon ingots with a six inch diameter, as well ingots with diameters of four and two inches. After a six-month design phase, the new puller was introduces to the market. The general manager of SED, Walter Hegaland, believed that the “Six-Four-Two” puller would be the technology leader in the industry. It was the most automated and most technologically advanced puller available. As this quote from the 1981 annual report shows, Ferrofluidics anticipated great things from the new product:
“The successful integration of ferrofluid technology to subsystems and systems is exemplified in the development of our innovative Six-Four-Two computer controlled, silicon crystal growing furnace. The system was designed to meet the total processing requirements for converting polycrystalline silicon into semiconductor grade, single crystal ingots at high productivity and yield. This new system incorporates a number of evolutionary advances including a sophisticated process control computer, complete vacuum integrity with Ferrofluidic rotary sealing, and a proprietary new simplified materials handling system, which in aggregate results in a revolutionary machine that meets the needs of the industry in the 1980s.”
The market for pullers is tied to the demand for silicon. The demand for silicon, in turn, is dependent on the demand for microelectronic devices. During the early 1980s, the silicon industry was experiencing rapid growth due to the demand for microelectronic devices. Silicon producers such as SHE, Monsanto-MEMC, and Wacker purchased pullers to produce the silicon ingots, which were converted into wafers. These wafers were the substrate on which most microelectronic devices were produced.
To better market the newly designed puller, Ferrofluidics attempted to increase their