Silicon-Carbide Module Ramp Recovery Leader — Electric Drivetrains

The mandate

The module industrialisation executive was removed after traction-inverter builds showed sintered-attach voiding, partial-discharge scatter and power-cycling failures that moved between SiC die lots and assembly lines. Teams screen aggressively to protect vehicle launches, but first-pass yield and test time no longer support committed volume. The interim leader must restore physical mechanism ownership across die, substrate and module processes without masking risk through indefinite over-screening.

Fifteen months form the ramp window. The first sixty days contain exposed lots, reconcile die and assembly genealogy and establish failure paretos. Months three through eight close attach, interconnect, insulation and thermal mechanisms while qualifying production equipment. Months nine through thirteen prove mixed-lot reliability and takt. The final two months appoint a permanent leader, transfer customer deviations and demonstrate stable launch planning.

Handover is achieved when first-pass module yield, partial-discharge distribution and power-cycling survival meet agreed targets across both production lines for twelve consecutive weeks. The successor must chair a die-lot disposition, approve one process-window adjustment and defend residual lifetime evidence to the vehicle customer. Rework, sample substitution and unpriced end-of-line screening cannot be used to manufacture an acceptable result.

The leader may quarantine die and modules, stop assembly cells, approve bounded process recipes, sequence reliability chambers, direct supplier containment and commit EUR 16 million within the authorised recovery envelope. They decide manufacturing release inside approved product specifications. Die redesign, inverter software, vehicle safety goals, long-term sourcing awards and customer commercial settlements remain with established engineering and business executives.

Excluded are redesigning the full traction inverter, owning wafer-fab technology, changing vehicle duty requirements or replacing plant automation. The mandate covers industrialisation of the named SiC module family and the evidence connecting production to field lifetime. Product-liability conclusions, warranty policy and public recall decisions remain outside the interim seat, informed by its preserved technical facts.

Why this seat is open

SiC module failures emerge from interactions among die variability, fast switching, attach, insulation, thermal stack and vehicle duty. The departure left suppliers and plant teams able to defend local compliance while no executive owns the field-ready assembled outcome. Temporary authority is needed to stop unsafe builds now and leave a permanent leader with repeatable production rather than expensive screening.

What you will own

• Reconcile die lot, wafer position, substrate, sinter paste, attach profile, interconnect, encapsulation and end-of-line genealogy.
• Separate die-related electrical variation from voiding, delamination, insulation weakness, bond degradation and thermal-interface effects.
• Govern physical analysis and accelerated stress using mechanism stability, representative mission profiles and sufficient mixed-lot samples.
• Stabilise sinter pressure, atmosphere, material handling, substrate preparation, interconnect and cure windows at production takt.
• Redesign screening around predictive value, escape consequence, false rejects, device stress and sustainable test capacity.
• Direct die, substrate, materials and equipment suppliers through containment, corrective action, requalification and deviation expiry.
• Transfer process limits, customer concessions, open mechanisms, capacity assumptions and successor-led release decisions.

Candidate qualifications

• Led SiC power-module or traction-inverter industrialisation from early builds into sustained automotive volume.
• Can evidence a field-reliability mechanism created by interaction between semiconductor die and module assembly.
• Understands sintered attach, substrates, interconnects, insulation, partial discharge, thermal paths and power-cycling inference.
• Has made contested lot and line holds while vehicle launch, supplier allocation and screening capacity were constrained.
• Directed cross-company failure analysis with traceable die, assembly, test and reliability genealogy.
• Developed a successor able to resist unsustainable screening when physical process control remains incomplete.

Non-negotiables

• Will lead onsite in Munich and attend all published Nuremberg and Catania technical councils.
• Has personally released production SiC modules against power-cycling and insulation evidence.
• Accepts no unilateral authority over vehicle safety goals, die architecture, warranty policy or long-term supplier awards.
• Will disclose power-semiconductor, module-material, equipment and automotive-customer relationships before appointment.

1. 49 words maximum. Which SiC module failure required joint die and assembly evidence to isolate correctly?
2. 49 words maximum. What proves screening is temporary containment rather than hidden production process capability?
3. 49 words maximum. Which release decision must the permanent leader complete before your handover?