Product / Process Change Notification Method in Automotive Electronics

General Revision 5_1 of DeQuMa and PCN-Form is now available.

• Active Components now according to AEC Q-100 Revision H and Q-101 Revision E
• Optoelectronic Components Test Matrix is now based on AEC Q-102 Revision A, April 6, 2020
• MEMS, according to AEC Q-103, Revision 2, newly added!
• Multi-Chip-Modules, according to AEC Q-104, Revision September 14, 2017
• Passive Components now according to AEC Q-200 Revision D
• Power Module according to AQG-324 Rev. 3.1.
• Opto-Electronic Multi-Chip-Modules according to AEC-Q102-003 Rev. August 28, 2022

Product and Process Changes (PCN) are inevitable to cope innovation cycles, quality requirements and immense price pressures.

Changes to electronic components (active and passive devices) can become necessary for many reasons. E.g. some might be development related, some could have a quality or logistic background, etc.

According to international agreed standards, changes of electronic components must be qualified and notified by the manufacturer, and often approved by the customer. Unfortunately the PCN process is often a cumbrous one, which takes many months, or even years. Reasons for that are:

1. Content of PCN incomplete or unclear which leads to retardation,
2. description of change information can be difficult to understand and or the format used can lead to misunderstanding, and
3. without additional hints for device change, it’s not clear which influence on functionality / reliability could be affected by the change.

To expedite the approval process, the working group "PCN Methodology" proposes to enhance the communication between 2^nd tier (component manufacturer) and 1^st tier (electronic control unit manufacturer), and therefore:

• developed a standardized information set for change notification from 2^nd tier to 1^st tier (PCN Form) with information of possible impact and
• based on the systematic of the Qualification Matrix which was developed and successfully used during the lead free implementation, the ZVEI group compiled a Delta Qualification Matrix (DeQuMa) with typical changes of passive components, integrated circuits, discrete semiconductors, LEDs and MCM indicating the tests which should be considered to evaluate the technical impact of the device changes in the application.

The overall process and the use of both, "PCN Form" and "DeQuMa", is described in the ZVEI "Guideline for Customer Notifications of Product and /or Process Changes (PCN) of Electronic Components specified for Automotive Applications".