1. Purpose of the gate
The speed, power, temperature and density grades, the test limits that sort parts into them and the use of partly good dies are released and tied to demand.
Grades turn the natural spread of silicon into revenue. This review checks that the grade structure matches what the silicon can deliver and what customers will buy, that bin limits are correlated across testers and sites, and that partly good parts are used safely and traceably.
It freezes the grade structure, which then changes only through change control, because every grade is an orderable part with customers, prices and inventory behind it.
Reviewers look at the grade structure from the customer side too. Each grade needs a datasheet, ordering information, and in many cases its own customer approvals, so a new grade is not free even if the silicon supports it. Conversely, removing a grade affects customers who designed it in, and is handled with a notice like any other change.
The plan also states how inventory will be steered. When the distribution produces more of a grade than demand needs, parts may be sold as a lower grade or held in die bank; when it produces too few, allocation rules decide who gets them. These rules are part of the release so that sales and supply act consistently.
The review is repeated when distributions move, for example after a process improvement, a new site or a shrink. Each repeat looks at whether grades still fit the silicon and the market, and records the effect on each orderable part of any change.
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