During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, with the rapid growth of China's new energy vehicles, 5G, photovoltaic energy storage, rail transit, and industrial sectors, China's third-generation semiconductor industry has entered a phase of accelerated development. Compared to the first and second-generation semiconductor industries, the global third-generation semiconductor sector is still in its early stages. China has not only gradually formed a complete third-generation semiconductor industrial ecosystem but also nurtured "little giant" enterprises that have emerged as global market leaders.

Founded in 2009, Guangdong Tycorun Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tycorun) is one of China's earliest enterprises to achieve industrialization of third-generation semiconductor SiC epitaxial wafers. It has since grown into a major global supplier of SiC epitaxial wafers and is one of the few Chinese companies with international competitiveness in the SiC field. In 2023, Tycorun was recognized as a national-level "little giant" enterprise specializing in niche markets.

In October 2024, Tycorun adopted the QMS full lifecycle quality management solution from Xiwicloud, a Huawei Cloud SaaS partner, embarking on a digital and intelligent transformation of its quality management. By implementing a quality management system spanning R&D, production, and supply chain, Tycorun aims to set a benchmark for quality management in the third-generation semiconductor industry. The full lifecycle quality management system, built on Huawei's iDME (Industrial Digital Model Engine), will accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of third-generation semiconductor "little giants."

Digital Quality Management: A Key to Development

As one of China's earliest third-generation semiconductor enterprises and the first domestic SiC semiconductor material supplier to obtain automotive quality certification (IATF 16949), Tycorun has entered a pivotal development phase during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. In this critical stage, digital quality management has become a priority.

SiC, a representative third-generation semiconductor material, holds significant application potential in new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, wind power, 5G base stations, and high-speed rail. The SiC industry chain includes crystal growth, substrates, epitaxy, wafer fabrication, packaging and testing, specialized equipment, and device applications. Epitaxy occupies a central position in the SiC value chain.

With the widespread adoption of SiC devices, quality requirements for epitaxial wafers have become increasingly stringent. The quality of epitaxial wafers is the lifeline of SiC products. Since epitaxy sits midstream in the industry chain, its quality is influenced by upstream crystal and substrate processing while directly impacting downstream device performance.

The third-generation semiconductor industry faces common quality management challenges, such as reliance on paper records, lack of integrated platforms for multi-source data, and difficulties in quality data traceability. SiC epitaxy is a complex process requiring strict defect control. Quality defects are a decisive factor in customer orders, and as semiconductor devices become more complex and miniaturized, customer tolerance for defects continues to decline.

Currently, Tycorun is tackling technical challenges, with its first 8-inch epitaxial production line set to begin operation in 2025. To outperform competitors, rigorous advanced product quality planning (APQP) is essential.

Cloud-Based Digital Quality Management Platform

Recognizing that quality management is critical to its development, Tycorun understands that product quality is its lifeline and must be enhanced through refined management systems.

In early October 2024, Tycorun launched its full lifecycle quality management platform in collaboration with Huawei Cloud and Xiwicloud. This cloud-based digital quality management solution aims to drive intelligent transformation in manufacturing and set an industry benchmark.

The platform is built on Xiwicloud's supply chain quality collaboration management system, which leverages Huawei Cloud to provide end-to-end quality and supply chain management for manufacturers. Based on a cloud-native + AI architecture, the platform helps enterprises significantly improve product quality while reducing costs and risks.

Xiwicloud and Huawei Cloud are long-term strategic partners. Since establishing their collaboration in 2022, they have complemented each other's strengths in technology, solutions, and ecosystem development. Xiwicloud was named one of Huawei Cloud's Top 10 Outstanding Ecosystem Partners in 2023 and joined the Songshan Lake Developer Village in April 2023. In August 2024, the two jointly launched a next-generation quality management platform powered by Huawei Cloud's iDME.

iDME is a development and operations platform for next-gen industrial SaaS software, featuring 24 classic industrial data structures (e.g., BOM), 80+ data functions (e.g., data lineage, security levels, versioning, and permissions), and lightweight 3D visualization engines, significantly improving ISV development efficiency and compliance.

Tycorun's digital quality management transformation has progressed rapidly, achieving notable results. Key value streams—including R&D quality, supply chain quality, incoming material quality, production quality, delivery quality, and customer quality—have been established, enabling end-to-end quality management. This has improved first-pass yield, supplier qualification rates, and product traceability while reducing quality costs and customer complaints.

Looking ahead, as Tycorun's full lifecycle quality management platform on Huawei Cloud is fully implemented, the company will better meet increasingly stringent customer audit requirements, achieve seamless data interoperability, and establish a closed-loop management system. This will systematically and sustainably enhance quality management, ensuring accelerated digital-intelligent transformation and propelling the company and industry into a new phase of development.

Notably, Tycorun's project was selected as one of the inaugural "First Case" initiatives in Songshan Lake Developer Village. These projects, proposed by the Songshan Lake Management Committee, aim to establish digital transformation benchmarks and drive industry-wide adoption.

Conclusion: Industrial Software Accelerates Cloud Migration

Huawei Cloud, with its inherent advantages in the industrial sector, is accelerating the digital-intelligent transformation of SMEs. By working with industry leaders like Tycorun, it is building full lifecycle quality systems for the semiconductor sector, ensuring the sustainability of third-generation semiconductors through integrated quality data platforms and intelligent workflows. On Huawei Cloud, more "little giants" are gaining momentum in their digital-intelligent transformation.

Xiwicloud—Reshaping high-value supply chains for Chinese manufacturing.