Serving as a global leader in the computer processor and microprocessor industry, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has driven innovation for over 50 years. AMD uses Reliance to make quality a strategic imperative in its organization, using early wins to prove value and drive rapid adoption across the business.
Meeting the need
Three key factors led AMD to implement Reliance: ISO governance, emerging markets, and the company’s long-term strategy. “Our priority was to focus on the ISO, those core applications — then look at [the] product — and material-related applications and how to implement those,” said Reliance Quality Software Architect Mario Andrade.
AMD began its quality journey with Reliance in 2018, initially focusing on automating for ISO 9001 certification. “We see quality as a journey that we’re on together — and we really wanted to pair ourselves with somebody who’s just as committed as we are to our journey,” Andrade said.
In 2019, Andrade and his team implemented ten additional Reliance modules. “We broke up our applications into different ‘swim lanes,’” said Andrade. “Within ISO, our key focus were Audit Management, Corrective Actions or CAPA, Document Control, Employee Training, Assets and Calibration, and Meetings. Within product and material, we focused on Change Management and PLM — the Project Control application.” That same year, AMD also implemented Admin Center, Reliance Engine, and Delegatio at a platform level.
Filling the gap
Over time, AMD has deployed 14 additional Reliance applications across ten global locations and 2,000 users. In 2020, AMD implemented Reliance’s Supplier Portal. “We highlighted five key areas to bring into the supplier portal — things like Audits, Management, Corrective Action Control, and Change Management, as well as our Quality Management,” Andrade explained. Additionally, Andrade and his team implemented Reliance Insights, creating seven customized dashboards and a centralized quality data lake (QDL). With Insights, AMD’s management and executive teams can easily review data, informing their forward-looking business decisions. In addition, Reliance Insights provides historical data, highlighting AMD’s quality journey while providing easily accessible audit information.
Last year, the company implemented two new Reliance applications — including data yield analysis for its supplier portal. The company also provided enhanced analytics, allowing users to generate custom dashboards through Power BI and other intelligence tools.
According to Andrade, the key to AMD’s quality automation within Reliance revolves around its ability to integrate with other systems. “We focus on automation that helps reduce the person-hours needed for data entry. We also look to automate in ways that help reduce the potential for human error — for example, by being able to copy data from one system to another. We aim to increase productivity, to improve our ‘first time right,’ and to always improve our overall cost of quality,” he said.
Looking forward
Currently, AMD is working through the process of implementing three Reliance modules: Training Management, Release Management, and User Management. Andrade believes Reliance’s user management capabilities will give the company more comprehensive control over onboarding and offboarding users. In addition, the company hopes to upgrade to NXG this year.
About AMD
For over 50 years, AMD has driven innovation in high‑performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. AMD employees are focused on building leadership, high-performance, and adaptive products that push the boundaries of what is possible. Billions of people, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research institutions worldwide rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages.
