When the Process Is a Black Box

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 A large solar panel manufacturer came to us with a problem:

Their radiant heating panels were failing prematurely.

On the surface, it looked like a materials issue.
But there was a catch…

Because of the proprietary nature of semiconductor manufacturing, they wouldn’t disclose what the heating elements were being exposed to.

No process data.
No material list.
Just failed hardware.

So we worked backwards.

We took samples of the residue and materials from the failed heaters and sent them to a lab. Using electron microscopy with elemental analysis, we identified exactly what was attacking the heating elements.

Once we understood the environment, the solution became clear.

We redesigned and manufactured new heating elements using a specialty alloy selected specifically for that chemical exposure.

The result:

2.5x increase in heater lifespan

Reduced downtime and maintenance

A solution built without ever being given the full process


Sometimes you don’t get all the information.

That doesn’t mean you can’t solve the problem.