eInnoSys staff has decades of extensive experience in Fab Automation of varying size and kind – from 4 inch GaAs or other compound semiconductor to 300 mm Silicon fabs as well as Packaging, Test/Assembly factories. Our team members have helped small R&D type fabs with old equipment to most advanced 300mm high volume factories. In addition to successful implementation of conventional automation on well over 300 equipment make and model, we have developed several hundred innovative applications to help factories with – How to develop systems and reports that combine data collected from various equipment and other factory data sources such as MES, ERP, etc to drive efficiencies (Yield, Cycle Time, OEE, etc) in fabs/factories and reduce cost through innovative automation How to collect data from and even download recipes to equipment that are not SECS/GEM capable. Our automation staff includes seasoned Industrial Engineers with deep understanding of semiconductor wafer processing, packaging, test and assembly processes and we design custom solutions, where needed to help you address your factory’s challenges or issues.
Areas of Fab Automation Expertise:
Yield Improvement
Cycle Time & OEE Improvements
Systems to ease troubleshooting complex issues
APC – Advanced Process Control
FDC – Fault Detection & Classification
Cost Management
Productivity Improvements
Customized solutions
eInnoSys also offers following out-of-the-box systems for Fabs:
EIGEMHost : SECS/GEM software for factory hosts EIGEMSim : Equipment and host simulator software for SECS/GEM testing EIRMS : Recipe Management System – Manages recipes, including versions and audit trail of recipe changes across different equipment types EIAMS: Alarm Management System – Taking automatic actions (user defined) as soon as an alarms occur on equipment, reporting and much more EIPartsManager: Spare Parts Management System – Helps manage spare parts cost, inventory and life-cycle. EIBarcodeGuardian: Prevents wrong pour of chemicals and manages chemical inventory in the fab EIQRSTS :- Reticle/Quartz/Sapphire Tracker – Helps tracking reticles/quartz/sapphire and other precious resources in the factory
EIMWA : Manual Wet bench Automation – Prevents misprocessing of wafers due to wrong bath dips on manual wet benches without expensive upgrade
Einnosys offers various solutions for Yield Improvement, ranging from simple barcode scanning of the lot boxes to very complex analysis of yield related issues
by correlating end-to-end wafer data. Our team members have decades of experience in improving yield at all areas of Assembly, Test, Packaging factories and FABs. In addition to implementing complex yield improvement projects, our staff has published technical papers on how to use innovative, out-of-the-box automation to improve yield in factories.
Host applications or station controllers that download and/or select recipes upon barcode or RFID scanning of lot boxes and remotely starting process
Collection and analysis of alarms, events and other critical process parameters from equipment through SECS/GEM or other means and correlating with other data such as that from MES or from other equipment
For Wafer FABs, correlating end-to-end wafer data: From epitaxial -> inline process <-> inline metrology electrical testing <->Final Test
Use feedback and feed-forward approach to feed metrology data to process equipment to improve yield Case Studies: At one wafer fab, our Yield Management solution resulted in improving yield by 0.8%
At another wafer fab, our Yield Management system resulted in yield improvement of 0.6%
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to cycle time improvement. Not just every manufacturing plant, but even different production areas within a plant can have different cycle time challenges. Having spent many years in fabs and assembly/test/packaging factory floor, Einnosys automation staff has gained valuable insight on how to improve cycle time in factories. Our automation staff works hand-in-hand with Industrial Engineers to identify opportunities to improve cycle-time, discuss with your Operations staff and implement them.
HOW EINNOSYS CAN HELP: Einnosys staff – Automation and/or Industrial engineer visits your factory and understands your process. After identifying areas of cycle-time improvement, we provide a written proposal of our staff’s recommendations to improve cycle time and help you assess ROI for such projects Upon approval, our highly qualified technical team develops and install applications unique to your environment After implementation, our automation and/or Industrial engineer ensures that desired results are achieved
EXAMPLES OF CYCLE TIME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS: RTD (Real Time Dispatch) System
Cycle Time reporting system breaking down cycle time by device, technology, production area, step and further into queue time, run time and hold time for better analysis Various feedback and feed-forward systems Alert system for critical lots and held lots Numerous lot, WIP & moves tracking systems
CASE STUDIES: At one wafer fab, Cycle Time improvement project resulted in 7% improvement in Cycle Time At another wafer fab, eInnoSys developed Cycle Time improvement system resulted in cycle time improvement of 5%
Like Cycle Time, cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work for improving OEE. Every factory, even different production areas in one factory have different OEE challenges and requires different approaches in improving OEE. Einnosys automation staff, which includes Industrial Engineers are experts at improving OEE/throughput in different areas. Over the years they have successfully implemented many factories.
HOW EINNOSYS CAN HELP: Einnosys staff – Automation and/or Industrial engineer visits your factory and understands your process. After identifying areas of OEE improvement, we provide a written proposal of our staff’s recommendations to improve OEE and help you assess ROI for such projects Upon approval, our highly qualified technical team develops and install applications unique to your environment
After implementation, our automation and/or Industrial engineer ensures that desired results are achieved CASE STUDIES: At one wafer fab, OEE project at a bottleneck area resulted in increased wafer outs by 20%, saving the cost of USD 1 million in purchasing an equipment and thousands of USD every year in maintenance
At another wafer fab, OEE project showed real-time view of current bottleneck area with just a click of a mouse along with relevant info to help address the situation resulting in improvement of wafer outs by 4%
Successful implementation of Advanced Process Control (APC) requires thorough understanding of fab/assembly and applying innovative ideas and technologies. Over the years, Einnosys staff has implemented many APC projects in various factories. Einnosys software engineers are experts at latest technologies, such as Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Combining these technologies to conventional APC projects offers more innovative solutions and much better results to our customers.
SUCCESSFUL APC PROJECTS: Run-to-Run (R2R) and Wafer-to-Wafer (W2W) implementation, which feeds data from previous run or wafer of the same equipment Feedback and feed-forward of metrology data to various process equipment and/or recipes Automatic creation and modification of process recipes and equipment configuration data
CASE STUDIES: At a wafer fab, our APC project resulted in cost saving of hiring additional engineer, with annual savings of $120-160K At another wafer fab, our advanced process control resulted in yield improvement of 0.5%
Fault Detection & Classification monitors various sensor data coming from the equipment continuously, analyze them and apply user-defined limits to them to detect process excursions. This system also allows engineers to configure actions that must be taken when a certain parameter is OOC (out of control) and FDC system automatically takes user defined actions. Process Excursion could be a result of one or more of a degrading equipment part, a process or equipment issue of the wafer/die from any of the previous steps, etc. Detecting such excursions and notifying appropriate fab or assembly/test personnel could result in preventing yield loss, improving cycle-time, OEE and equipment up-time.
eInnoSys has successfully implemented several Fault Detection & Classification (FDC) projects at various fabs. Our Fault Detection and Classification (FDC) systems How it works: eInnoSys designed FDC system continuously monitors various equipment sensor data either received through SECS/GEM or directly from the sensor
This system allows engineers to define what kind of analysis must be performed as the data is received and also define lower and upper control limits FDC system also allows engineering to configure what actions must be taken automatically
when a certain parameter is OOC (out of control). The action could be any combination of – put the equipment in unscheduled maintenance, notify an engineer, hold wafers or packages for engineering review, etc. Case Studies: At one wafer fab, eInnoSys implemented Fault Detection and Classification (FDC) helped them improve equipment uptime by 20 hours per month At another wafer fab, our FDC system helped them reduce scrap of 160 wafers per year
eInnoSys understands that Fabs and Assembly/Test/Packaging factories alike have to be operating efficiently to manage cost per wafer or cost per die/package. Through our years of experience working in Fabs and Assembly/Test/Packaging factories, we have successfully accomplished many projects to save millions of dollars in operating cost. How eInnoSys can help: Reducing equipment maintenance frequency and time without compromising quality of products Improving precious metals reclaims Misprocessing of wafers for human errors, including selecting wrong recipe
Reducing reworks through feedback from metrology into process Better process control through data collection and analysis Case Studies: At one fab, we helped them save up to $1.5 million per year in manufacturing cost through automation.
At another fab, we helped them reduce number of PMs on the equipment by 30%, resulting in saving of $300K per year.
If you have an equipment without GEM/SECS capability and if you can’t get it from the OEM, we can help you. eInnoSys provides a software solution that offers most of the GEM/SECS features. It doesn’t matter how old the equipment is or whether the equipment is running through a computer with Windows or Unix/Linux operating system, our solution works on most equipment. This solution works equally well on both wafer fab equipment as well as back-end test, assembly and packaging equipment. With eInnoSys provided GEM/SECS solution on your equipment, you can achieve the same benefit on those equipment as you do with modern SECS/GEM compliant equipment. Now you can improve yield, collect and analyze data automatically, download and upload recipes and a lot more. When it comes to providing GEM/SECS on an equipment without OEM provided solution, there is no one-size-fit-all approach. That’s why our engineering team first evaluates your equipment and recommends a solution that is best for you.