CSCO: AMD Enhances Business Performance with Cisco Intelligent Networked Manufacturing Solutions

Advanced Micro Devices Export Sdn. Bhd., the manufacturing facility of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), has adopted Cisco® Intelligent Networked Manufacturing Solutions to enhance efficiency and reduce lead times in its manufacturing cycle.

Based on a single open, intelligent, standards-based Ethernet platform, the Cisco Intelligent Networked Manufacturing infrastructure helps AMD link together collaborative applications that integrate information and processes spanning the entire manufacturing workflow. These solutions increase visibility and flexibility across the four major parts of a manufacturing organization: product development, supply chain management, production management, and sales and service management.

AMD is a leading global provider of innovative microprocessor solutions for computing, communications and consumer electronics markets. The company has a manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, which assembles AMD microprocessors and employs more than 800 employees.

At the heart of AMD's infrastructure is the Cisco Ethernet to the Factory (EttF) solution, which bridges the gap between the corporate office and the production floor, allowing AMD to make strategic business decisions that are backed by real-time data from the plant floor. As an end-to-end solution, Cisco EttF allows highly secure, real-time visibility between the production floor and enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply-chain management (SCM) systems. It delivers the flexibility that allows customers to change orders or specifications without compromising the security and performance of existing production processes.

In addition to EttF, AMD also deployed a Cisco Unified Communications solution that has improved mobility collaboration throughout the company's operations, particularly in the clean room. A clean room is one of the most important requirements of precision parts assembly. The solution, which includes Cisco Unified IP Phones and a wireless Cisco Aironet® wireless network, enables AMD staff to communicate in the clean room using the Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7920. It is the only certified wireless phone allowed in that environment due to its low radiation emissions.*

In addition, with their increased mobility, most employees can now access information from wherever they are, saving significant time. Additional benefits include the increased efficiency of a single network that supports voice and data, which has in turn reduced the total cost of ownership as well as administrative costs.

"AMD is a model for how the manufacturing industry can make the most of networking technologies. The Intelligent Networked Manufacturing strategy enables manufacturing companies to take business efficiency to new levels even in physically challenging environments. By working closely with AMD, Cisco, together with the systems integrator, HP, was able to propose solutions that met its rigorous requirements," said Kumaram Singaram, Cisco's managing director for Malaysia.

* The radio module in the Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7920 is compliant with the requirements addressing RF exposure from radio frequency devices. These guidelines were developed by the industry based on guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO). The phone operates at power levels one-fifth to one-sixth of those in most standard cellular, Personal Communications Service (PCS), or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) phones.