Category: Company News

As seen in Phoenix Business Journal:

Spirit Electronics Small Business OSAT Grows Around Semiconductor Desert Oasis

Greater Phoenix is a growing semiconductor oasis in the desert. Large-scale commercial manufacturing is making news with new fabs, and supporting businesses like outsourced semiconductor assembly and test provider Spirit Electronics see opportunity for significant expansion.

As the desert cluster grows, an entire ecosystem of support businesses will thrive around it. Spirit fills a niche demand among the local aerospace and defense industry for American-based authorized distribution, assembly and testing services.

Vertically Integrating to Secure the Supply Chain

The A&D demand for defense-grade and space-grade technology adapts more slowly than commercial manufacturing, making it more sensitive to supply chain bottlenecks. Spirit has added solution-focused services that specifically address supply chain constraints. These have included supplier-managed inventory and 3PL services, lead trim and form and robotic BGA solder exchange, MIL-STD-883 testing, radiation testing and circuit card PCB assembly.

Small Business Among the A&D Cluster

Spirit Electronics was founded in 1979 as an authorized component distributor for A&D. Current CEO Marti McCurdy acquired the company in 2017. A veteran of semiconductor testing and the U.S. Air Force, McCurdy was in tune with the supply chain’s testing needs. She grew Spirit’s team to over 40 employees with specialized skills in supply chain management, lab operations, and test engineering. Spirit is now a veteran-owned, woman-owned small business with HUBZone certification.

“When you have an aerospace cluster or a semiconductor cluster like we are growing in Phoenix, services and supply chain businesses move in to support that growth,” explains McCurdy. “Spirit has been part of this local cluster from the beginning, giving us a unique insight into the supply chain. We see the massive opportunity for growth in the Phoenix area and are expanding capacity among our business units to meet those needs.”

A&D has a foundational industry presence in the Valley alongside the burgeoning semiconductor industry. Major companies like Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, L3 Harris, and General Dynamics have a significant presence in the Greater Phoenix area and are pushing aerospace technology to new heights.

New Space and New Supply Chain Heights

Among Spirit’s A&D customers, commercial space and satellite programs are revolutionizing space exploration. This New Space industry demands high-reliability electronics to operate numerous small satellites and satellite constellations in addition to deeper space missions with NASA. Spirit provides tailored screening and qualification testing programs to guarantee components and assemblies will be able to function in the harsh temperatures and radiation of the space environment.

With New Space programs launching faster, Spirit’s end-to-end supply chain services support component sourcing, logistics, testing and PCB assembly to deliver fully qualified and ready-to-use electronics. Spirit also offers application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that allow customers to create a custom chip with a faster time to market.

Spirit’s ASIC Programs and Foundry Services

With high commercial demand among major chip manufacturers, Spirit’s ASIC programs offer faster lead times, full qualification and extended manufacturing life for A&D customers with application-specific needs. Spirit can take an ASIC through design, foundry, assembly, test and storage. Spirit offers foundry services through Texas Instruments fabs to support 65nm tech nodes and higher, an essential in the A&D industry.

Spirit’s Small Business Workforce Development

The Spirit team has been the foundation of the company’s growth. While integrating new services vertically, Spirit’s team organization has expanded horizontally, adding skilled technicians, engineers and operational managers to support multiple business units. The team has grown over 280% in 6 years.

Spirit’s team takes pride in the company’s small business agility to offer unique solutions to customer challenges. The team operates under rigorous industry standards while still offering flexible customer service. The Spirit team is highly collaborative, talented and diverse driving innovation in the company.

Spirit added significant recruiting support to continue team growth. The local workforce for semiconductor manufacturing will require specialized education opportunities, and Spirit is growing local partnerships to improve training offerings that directly support critical skills. Spirit has also partnered with ASU to continue expanding the workforce and R&D.

In both workforce and supply chain, the greatest challenge for the local industry is sustainable growth. As a small business, Spirit is excited to continue innovating new solutions to support the business, the team and its customers.

As seen in In Business:

Supporting Disrupted ASIC Programs amidst Foundry Consolidations

Local company brings leading-edge technology to the forefront for the A&D market

The microelectronics supply chain has seen its share of challenges in recent years, while efforts to ensure its stability in the U.S. are unprecedented. One way that companies ensure semiconductor supply continuity is by developing their own Application Specific Integrated Circuits, or ASICs. An ASIC contains multiple components designed to work together to perform a specific function integral to the application’s operation.

From processing to sensing to memory and power management, a single multi-function ASIC can reduce the demands and lead times in a supply chain. A customer may capitalize on its design investment by creating multiple ASICs to support a range of product applications and performance requirements. By building a proprietary library of ASIC designs, the customer can ensure it will have the ICs needed for the life of its application, thus reducing reliance on an external supplier.

ASIC design is the intellectual property of the customer. The customer provides its design to a foundry for manufacture. The customer-foundry relationship is an important consideration. Recent foundry consolidations are leaving customers with last time buys or limited access to support their ASICs, which can lead to manufacturing delays or stoppages.

Spirit Electronics, a distributor and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test provider based in Phoenix, offers support for ASIC programs with full screen and qualification for military and space applications. Spirit offers foundry services supporting U.S.-based manufacturing for analog, mixed-signal and RF integrated circuits. One of Spirit’s foundry providers is Texas Instruments. Spirit has partnered with TI to offer and manage foundry services for its customers, providing access to TI’s advanced manufacturing and wafer processing.

Spirit offers support for ASIC redesign if needed for customers without a GDS2 or RTL files from their current provider. Spirit can port them over to a TI foundry on very similar technology nodes and processes. Spirit’s in-house fabric and IP portfolio reduces the overall design cost for ASICs, accelerates customer designs and enhances design compatibility for optimum performance and flexibility. The tools that Spirit brings to the party empower ASIC designers with efficiency and effectiveness to bring leading-edge technology to the forefront for the A&D market.

Spirit manages the ASIC program from design to delivery. Its ASIC engineering experts have large IP libraries for reference in the design stage so customers don’t have to design from scratch. Spirit recently added ASIC expert and semiconductor veteran Naveed Sherwani, Ph.D., to its team. Dr. Sherwani has more than 300 designs in his portfolio and continues to provide cutting-edge digital solutions in the ASIC design world.

Spirit works with the foundry for quantity management and to maximize space on the wafer for each production run. Customers choose from ceramic or organic substrates to mount the ASIC die. Spirit’s test capabilities can characterize substrates for thermal requirements. Substrate characterization can enhance ASIC reliability and performance.

Spirit packages the ASIC into its final form, working with the customer’s packaging supplier or sourcing the package from a trusted partner.

ASIC testing and qualification can include:

• Wafer sort
• Advanced assembly
• Electrical characterization
• Screen and qualification for Class B and Class S high reliability components
• Radiation Testing
• MIL-STD-883 testing (of which Spirit is a qualified DLA commercial lab provider)

ASIC programs support long-term production, even into end-of-life and legacy applications.

Spirit Electronics, a distributor and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) provider, offers support for Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) with full screen and qualification for military and space applications. Current foundry consolidation is leaving customers with last time buys or limited access to support their ASICs. Spirit can help them avoid ASIC program disruption and loss.

“Spirit Electronics is here to offer support for redesign if needed (meaning customers without a GDS2 or RTL files from their current provider),” says Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy. “We can port this over to a Texas Instruments foundry on very similar technology nodes and processes.”

Spirit is offering full-turnkey, vertically integrated services for finished goods for Space or Military qualified parts, including:

• Design: Analog, Digital, Mixed Signal and RF
• Foundry Services at Texas Instruments (TI) or other wafer foundries by customer request
• Package assembly
• Electrical test program development
• Screening
• Qualification
• Radiation Testing
• DPA (Device Physical Analysis)
• Delivery – fully qualified drop-in replacement for current ASICs.

Spirit Electronics offers foundry services supporting U.S.-based manufacturing for analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits. Spirit’s foundry access includes 45- to 130-nm technology nodes in 300 mm wafer fabs. With corporate consolidation and long-lead-time pressures demanding greater capacity from existing fabs, Spirit’s foundry services open an accessible supply chain channel for ASIC manufacturing.

Spirit recently added semiconductor veteran Dr. Naveed Sherwani to its engineering team in support of their ASIC product enablement programs. Spirit is committed to providing US Sourced, Made in the USA ASICs that support legacy replacement and advanced solutions.

About Spirit Electronics:

Spirit Electronics is an end-to-end supply chain services company headquartered in Phoenix, AZ. Spirit offers MIL-STD-883 testing, circuit card assembly, device analysis, ASIC programs and authorized distribution of high-reliability electronic components. Spirit’s supply chain solutions are changing the definition of distribution by providing full-turnkey OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) services to deliver products to aerospace and defense customers fully qualified and ready for use. Spirit is a veteran-owned, woman-owned small business (VOWOSB) with HUBZone certification founded in 1979.

As Seen in Forbes & Fortune:

In the Spirit of Service and Self-Reliance

Spirit Electronics is making dynamic moves in the semiconductor industry with innovative ways of delivering products and services to its aerospace and defense clients.

Each year, semiconductor technology advances toward a razor’s edge—quite literally—as more data is packed into fewer nanometers of space. Meanwhile, a tense geopolitical climate is raising the stakes around access to, and application of, this essential technology.

Within this milieu, Spirit Electronics upholds a mission more critical than ever: to help the United States military maintain superiority as it keeps pace with these technological advances. A certified veteran-owned, woman-owned, and value-added distributor of electronic components, Spirit Electronics has redefined the way semiconductor products and services reach customers, thanks in large part to the bold leadership of owner and CEO Marti McCurdy. “I am a problem-solver by nature,” says McCurdy, a veteran of the United States Air Force. “Some people talk about a Plan B. My Plan B is making Plan A work.”

Customized Technology for the Long Haul

Both the commercial and military sectors rely heavily on semiconductor chips—but their approach to implementing them couldn’t be more different. A constant demand for faster electronics sets the breakneck pace of technological advances in the commercial sector, while the military prefers technology that will sustain fleets and weaponry in the long run. The commercial sector regularly orders billions of semiconductor chips; the military orders small quantities as needed, but require high-reliability products.

This puts the military on the lagging edge of technology, forcing it to requalify the existing parts of aircraft systems like the F35 radar systems and B-2 bombers. Yet that pain point is where Spirit Electronics excels. Among the company’s services is the testing and requalification of semiconductor chips used in aerospace and military applications. “We calculate what we have to do to simulate a five-year mission life, for example,” says McCurdy. “By forcing temperature, environment, and acceleration, we can requalify products in less time and for less money than it would take the military to do independently.” Airtight security is another benefit: As a contained facility, Spirit Electronics exercises product care, custody, and control from beginning to end, ensuring far less risk of corruption and handling and traceability issues.

Spirit Electronics also creates customized application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, which are chips that contain patterns of connections dictating a specific function. In the military sector, ASICs guide satellites throughout their orbit mission and direct fighter jets to self-drive on runways. Spirit Electronics designs these chips from scratch, in small quantities, specifically for its aerospace and defense customers. “Think of ASICs like custom-designed jewelry,” says McCurdy. “At Spirit Electronics, we cut the stones, solder the gold, assemble the pieces, sew the velvet packaging—every step in making a specific, unique product that no one else has.”

Smashing the Mold

McCurdy’s path to entrepreneurial success began in a small Amish community in rural Pennsylvania. Although her family was not Amish, they emulated the resiliency of their neighbors, who deemed any problem solvable with the right tools and mindset. Mechanically inclined, technically savvy, and accustomed to working hard, McCurdy gives all the credit to her parents, who taught her these life lessons that have paved the way for her success today.

After serving as an engineer in the United States Air Force, McCurdy ran a few successful businesses before her eye fell on a chip distributor for sale in Arizona. The company was in the red, but McCurdy saw an opportunity to rebuild it—by smashing the distribution mold. Instead of siloing services, as was the industry standard, she added five new ones—including an ASIC design team—for a total of six services under one roof, all of them focused on the unique requirements endemic to the aero- space and defense industries. It was a bold move, but one McCurdy felt could alleviate the supply chain woes she had experienced while serving in the military—and she was right. Within a few years the company had doubled in size, expanded its warehouse space, and turned a sizable profit.

Self-reliance and the instinct to build something new in place of what’s mediocre, inform McCurdy’s leadership style. “Our approach of doing things quicker, better, and faster has always been my direction,” she says. In June of 2023, for example, Spirit Electronics bought a failure analysis lab in Colorado Springs. The sale was motivated by McCurdy’s frustration with the time it was taking to outsource a process called “destructive physical analysis.”

“We were sitting on a couple million dollars in parts,” she recalls. “So, I said, ‘Let’s find out who’s for sale and acquire them so that we can have this capability ourselves.’” As a leader, she’s empowered her team to think and act boldly, too. “The Spirit team is pretty phenomenal,” she says. “I could turn the company over to them and it would continue to grow. They dove into the deep end with me and are now excellent swimmers,” McCurdy says of the team’s talent.

Looking Ahead—And Upward

With ever-increasing revenue numbers and industry-wide recognition, it’s no wonder Spirit Electronics was named Phoenix’s second fastest-growing private company by the Phoenix Business Journal. Instead of resting on its laurels, the company is expanding its custom-designed ASICs capabilities—from just a handful of chips per year to 20—by hiring heavy-hitter designers from Silicon Valley and quadrupling the company’s footprint. There are also plans for more acquisition opportunities in Arizona—a hotbed of semiconductor manufacturing—as Spirit seeks to increase its assembly and testing capabilities.

McCurdy’s vision doesn’t stop there. She is hopeful that today’s technology-fluent youth will discover limitless opportunities in her industry. “I want young people coming out of school to know that this type of work is sexy and fun,” she says. Those bright futures inspire the Spirit Electronics’ commitment to sustainability—from permaculture practices in its garden, to energy-efficient offices, all the way to their customized ASICs directing satellites that monitor glaciers and ocean temperatures. “I have high hopes for teens and 20-somethings,” she says. “Their line in the sand of where their imaginings go is so much further than where mine was.”

Spirit Electronics now offers foundry services supporting U.S.-based manufacturing for analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits. Spirit’s foundry access includes 45- to 130-nm technology nodes in 300 mm wafer fabs. With corporate consolidation and long-lead-time pressures demanding greater capacity from existing fabs, Spirit’s foundry services open an accessible supply chain channel for ASIC manufacturing.

“Supply chain demands have remained high despite limited manufacturing capacity at the major American fabs,” explains Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy. “Our foundry services are an opportunity to manufacture ASICs using advanced processes in quality fabs to add agility to the supply chain and improve time-to-market.”

Spirit’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufacturing is part of an end-to-end supply chain service that includes IC design and engineering, wafer manufacturing, wafer binning and processing, packaging and substrate assembly, and screening and qualification.

“Where most ASIC companies complete the design and outsource the rest, Spirit’s foundry services manage the manufacturing, packaging and assembly all under one American supplier,” McCurdy says.

Spirit’s foundry services specialize in technology nodes around 65-nm and higher range for analog and mixed-signal devices that are a cornerstone of aerospace and defense electronics. Authorized distribution relationships with multiple OEMs allow Spirit to offer collaborative engineering and supplier support for critical circuit design.

After substrate design, packaging and assembly, Spirit’s MIL-STD-883 testing services cover device analysis, screening and qualification in-house to meet military and aerospace standards. Device analysis services include destructive physical analysis (DPA) that offers verification of the manufacturing process. Spirit’s test services also include radiation capabilities to provide space-grade and harsh-environment ASIC qualification. With engineering involvement from the design stage, Spirit can easily customize testing programs for efficiency and mission-specific data.

“Adding foundry services allows us to vertically integrate all steps of the ASIC production process under one U.S.-based supplier,” McCurdy concludes. “This is a true end-to-end manufacturing service that delivers application-ready ASICs.”

Spirit Electronics has acquired Insight Analytical Labs to add device analysis services, including destructive physical analysis (DPA), to its existing full-turnkey semiconductor supply chain services. Insight Analytical Labs is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the team, operations and assets will become part of Spirit Electronics.

“We can now provide device analysis services that result in process and yield improvements along with improved manufacturability design,” says Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy. “The Insight Analytical team brings extensive experience and proven processes that will benefit our customers with reduced lead times and increased supply chain security for these in-demand services.”

Insight Analytical Labs has been in operation for 30 years, providing electronics analytical services including DPA, failure analysis, reverse engineering and IP litigation support. Spirit Electronics will leverage DPA to provide construction analysis that offers in-depth internal inspection of an electronic component to detect production defects. Aerospace and defense programs require DPA to prevent component failures in high-reliability applications.

Spirit Electronics will maintain and operate the DPA lab operations in Colorado Springs. Spirit will seek qualification for the new Colorado Springs facility to bring Insight Analytical’s lab services under the Spirit Electronics quality management system and lab suitability. An invitation for customer site-audits and qualification will be announced soon.

“Customers can expect DPA test operations to continue, and Spirit will bring in our automation, ERP system, cybersecurity measures and Quality program that have made us a trusted distributor and value-add business in the industry,” says CEO McCurdy. “We will continue to manage our distribution, MIL-STD-883 testing and circuit card assembly from our Phoenix, AZ, headquarters. We are excited to expand to Colorado where there is growing opportunity in defense and the commercial space industry.”