These slides use concepts from my (Jeff Funk) course entitled Biz BUModels for Hi-Tech Products to analyze the business model for IIa’s industrial diamonds. Through the use of a proprietary microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition process, IIa offers diamonds that are harder, purer, and cheaper than other industrial diamonds and they offer higher property constancy. This makes them ideal for machine tool and drilling bits where tool life is important. Other applications include jewelry, water purification, and high-power semiconductor ones. IIe’s industrial diamonds are indistinguishable from natural diamonds yet are 1/3 cheaper.
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
Biz Model for Lab-Grown Diamonds
1. BUSINESS MODEL FOR LAB-
GROWN DIAMONDS
Produced by Microwave Plasma Chemical
Vapour Deposition (MPCVD)
2. Team Members
Lim San San
A0098499Y
Lin Lin
A0110239U
Alec Liu
A0110166W
Wang Jun-Un Eugene
A0098504Y
Mohammad Khalid
A0098544R
3. Agenda
• Introduction
• Current & Potential Applications
- Value Proposition
- Customer Selection
• Method of Value Capture
• Scope of Activities
• Method of Strategic Control
• Summary
5. Lab-Grown Diamonds
• 80% of global natural-
mined diamonds (135M
carats or 27,000 kg) are
used industrially
• Increasing demand for
industrial-grade
diamonds
• High-quality and low-
cost lab-grown
diamonds can address
this market demand
6. • Established in 2005, with funding from the EDB for the first plant
• World’s largest MPCVD (Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapour
Deposition) diamond research facilities
• Industry leader in lab-grown diamond technologies
• Production of colourless, high purity and cost-effective lab-grown
diamonds for various industrial and scientific applications
• Complete technology value chain - from R&D, production, to cutting
& polishing
• Jewellery Business Unit: Gemesis
7. • Process to produce high-purity solid materials
• Microwave will energise the precursors decompose and deposit
on the substrate.
• In the case of Diamond:
– Carbon atoms from CH4 are reattached to diamond substrates, initiating the
natural crystallisation process
– Growth condition is difficult to optimise and maintain
MPCVD Diamond Technology
8. • Hardest and Most Thermally Conductive material in nature
- 4x the hardness of Tungsten Carbide
- 5x the thermal conductivity (2200W/mK) of Copper
• Low thermal expansion
• High voltage durability very good insulator
• Radiation hard high electron mobility
• Wide optical spectrum
Superiority of MPCVD Diamonds
11. Mechanical Applications
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• MPCVD diamonds are applied on tools and
equipment to improve machining
performance and increase tool lifetimes
• High purity results in extreme hardness and
allows toolmakers to achieve high precision in
tooling design
12. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Single Crystal Diamonds-MPCVD
Higher
Purity
Better
crystal
structure
Higher
hardness
More wear
resistant
Longer
tool life
Smoother
surface
and edge
Sharper
tips
Better
thermal
properties
Sustain
higher
pressure
Source: DiamTech
13. Properties of Different Diamonds
HPHT Natural MPCVD
Hardness (MPa)* 1500 2790 2860
Impurity Metal catalyst Unpredictable
foreign impurity
Almost none
Tool life
(normalised)
1 Inconsistent 3 to 8
(depends on application)
Property
consistency
High Low High
Supply
consistency
High, with
numerous suppliers
Low High, with few
suppliers
Price
(small diamond)
Low
($25)
High
($50 - hundreds)
Moderate – high
($50)
Price
(large diamond)
High
($1600-2000)
High
(>$5000)
Low-moderate
($500 – 700)
Applications General tooling High-end: Precision tooling, high-
pressure, high-temperature resistance
apps.
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
14. Mechanical Applications
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Mechanical
Application
Industries
Precision
Machining
Wood
Machining
Grinding &
Polishing
General
Engineering
Crushing,
Sawing &
Mining
Oil & Gas
Drilling &
Drill Bits
Road
Maintenance
Stone and
Concrete
Processing
Mining,
Tuneling
&Drilling
15. Value Proposition
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Providing a wide range of
extreme performance products
and solutions to meet
customer’s demands of the
precision cutting, oil & gas, hard
rock mining & tunneling, and
road maintenance industries
22. Value Proposition
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Providing consumer eco-friendly and conflict-free
diamonds that are of same as or better quality than
mined diamonds at more competitive costs
23. Customer Selection
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Jewelry dealers / Pro conflict-free diamonds
• Luxury goods manufacturer
• Direct to general consumer via e-commerce
26. Water Purification - Disinfection Stage
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Primary treatment, secondary treatment,
tertiary treatment (disinfection)
27. Water Disinfection
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Primary treatment, secondary treatment,
tertiary treatment (disinfection)
• Wastewater treatment using MPCVD diamond
electrodes for refractory chemicals
– Reducing the cost to purify water
– Higher efficiency
28. Diamond as Electrodes
• Eg.
– Breakdown of chlorobenzene
– Breakdown of 1,4-dioxane
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Platinum electrode: less breakdown in 8 hours
Diamond electrode: more breakdown in 6 hours
94.5% breakdown of
chlorobenzene
Diamond electrodes have 5x the 1,4-dioxane
removal efficiency of platinum electrodes
Platinum electrode: 17%
removal efficiency
Diamond electrode: 85%
removal efficiency
29. Electrode Properties
Electrode
Material
Oxidizing
Power
Resistance Potential
Window
Overpotential Hardness Others
RuO2 + ++ ++ ++ ++++ NA
IrO2 + ++ ++ ++ +++ NA
Pt ++ ++++ ++++ ++++ + Heavy
metal
pollution
PbO2 +++ +++ +++ +++ ++ Heavy
metal
pollution
SnO2 ++++ ++ +++ +++ +++ NA
Diamond +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ NA
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Diamond electrodes
1. More physically/chemically resistant
2. Longer lifetime
3. Disinfect more effectively
4. Do not produce heavy metal pollutants
30. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Trend & Market Info
• More stringent legislations on water discharge
• Push for electrode use in water disinfection aided by shift
away from chemical treatments
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
2012 2019
MarketRevenue($b)
6% CAGR
$1.94 billion
$2.96 billion
Revenue forecast for Water, Wastewater Disinfection Systems market
Source: Frost & Sullivan
31. Value Proposition
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Providing customers with high-quality boron-
doped diamonds to achieve efficient disinfection
of waste water according to their specific
requirements.
32. Customer Selection
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• Early adopters in the water purification industry
• Industries switching from chemical to electrical
disinfection
• End-user criteria:
– Cost advantage
– Efficiency
– Compliance with EPA guidelines
– State environmental regulations in place
– Pilot facilities or large budget for new treatment
systems
35. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Semiconductor applications
• Mobile phone base station
• Communication satellite
• Radar
• RF amplifier
High Power
High Frequency
36. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Diamond
https://www.ntt-review.jp/archive/ntttechnical.php?contents=ntr201008sf3.html
Semiconductor applications
37. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Modern Semiconductor Devices
• Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
• Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBT)
• Metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor
• High electron mobility transistor (HEMT)
Si, SiC, SiGe
GaAs, GaN
InP
Modern Semiconductor Materials
38. Diamonds in semiconductor
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
• High thermal conductivity
• High carrier mobility
• Wide energy bandgap
• Long carrier lifetime
40. Example:
GaN on Si GaN on Diamond
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
http://www.i-micronews.com/compound-semi/
41. Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
Value Proposition
• Providing customers with semiconductor-grade
diamonds according to their specific application
requirements to achieve high power, high
frequency, high temperature and long lifetime
45. Customer Selection
Application Value Proposition Customer Selection
TriQuint
Semiconductor is a
semiconductor company that
designs, manufactures, and
supplies high-performance RF
modules, components and
foundry services.
- Semiconductor design house
- Semiconductor fabrication plant
- Research institutes
50. Scopes of Activities
Operations
• Diamond
production
• Equipment
building and
maintenance
• Quality control
• Inventory control
Sales & Marketing
• Build distribution
channels
• Product promotion
and branding
• Identify potential
market segment
• Technical customer
service
R & D
• Diamond
applications R&D
(process
improvement,
customer services)
• Collaborations (R&D
and marketing) with
external parties
52. Strategic Control
Strong IP Management
• IP Strategy: To patent customized
equipment and sub-processes
• Trade secret for the ‘recipe’
MPCVD
Branding & Education
• Awareness of lab-grown diamonds
– consumer diamonds
• Trade shows and research
collaboration
Asset Management
• Acquisition: to compliment the
product, process and service
• Vertical Disintegration.
R & D
• New product development for
new applications
• Process optimization
• Encourage open innovation
through collaboration
Sustaining
Profitability
53. Summary
Summary
IIa Technologies capable of producing excellent lab-grown
diamonds
Current applications of diamonds in industrial and
consumer areas
Potential applications in Water disinfection and
Semiconductor
Value Proposition:
The ability to produce diamonds customized to specific
customers’ needs
Growing company with potential growth and sustainability