Smart semiconductor manufacturing: building the fab of the future
As the semiconductor industry continues to innovate and grow, innovation is needed to meet the increasing demand for chips without sacrificing safety or quality.
Benefits of smart manufacturing
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| Improve quality and yield | Achieve sustainability targets | Improve machine availability |
Smart manufacturing solutions provide new data sources that increase the accuracy of predictive maintenance models, leading to improved wafer quality and increased machine availability. Environmental sustainability is important to ensure that the entire semiconductor ecosystem can continue its growth trajectory. Implementing water and energy monitoring identifies inefficiencies to optimise manufacturing processes. Industry 4.0 initiatives increase efficiency and sustainability in the fab of the future.
Smart manufacturing solutions that optimise every step of production
ifm is your partner for improving OEE and energy consumption
Quality control and improved yield
Wafer manufacturing monitoring
Growing and slicing ingots consistently every time is essential during wafer processing. Wafer polishing is the foundation for high-quality products downstream in production. Monitoring equipment in this part of the wafer fabrication process helps to:
- Identify bearing wear
- Identify spindle failure
- Record crash events
Condition-based monitoring at this stage ensures even polishing and reduces the risk of slight vibrational changes going unnoticed and eventually leading to downstream product defects.
Achieve sustainability targets
Optimise energy and resource utilisation
Water recycling (precise water quality monitoring) and gas emission reduction (air consumption monitoring) are key steps towards protecting the environment.
With ifm’s RTM solution, the customer can
- keep an eye on all individual consumption and, thanks to the Calculated Values function, simultaneously combine them into an overall result.
- identify deviations from the ideal condition individually for each consumer and thus initiate targeted maintenance or optimisation measures.
The investment in the IoT solution was thus also an investment in a more efficient use of resources, resulting in sustainable cost reductions.
Increase machine availability
Sub-fab utility monitoring
Ultimately, producing chips relies on the consistency and reliability of the equipment in the sub-fab. Precision monitoring helps manufacturers trend their data and identify patterns that signal changes in machine performance. Vibration monitoring helps to:
- Monitor critical machinery
- Perform root cause analysis
- Predict optimal maintenance intervals
Smart tank level monitoring can help to:
- Prevent unplanned downtime
- Trigger automatic refilling
- Alert to low inventory for reordering
With smart level sensors, you can trigger automatic refills and notifications that inventory reordering is necessary. This data can be sent to ERP systems for optimised supply chain forecasting and planning.
It's not automation until it's orange.
Smart sensor technology and digital concepts for the production processes of tomorrow. Design your automation with solutions from ifm.
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