Factory Integration.

Each tool has its own specialities in construction and process capabilities. It is because of its unique qualities that your machine was chosen. Nevertheless, your customer likely already owns many other tools and from a factory viewpoint there are many commonalities.

What do all tools have in common?

Every machine needs material to process and instructions for processing that material. In an automated factory, special software and hardware is in place to handle the material flow to and from each machine and to control and monitor it. A requirement for semiconductor or flat panel factories is to achieve full automation with little or no human intervention during normal operation. The primary reasons are cost reduction and high product quality.

Where's the factory interface?

The interface to the factory is implemented on at least to levels:

• hardware
• software and a factory communications network

The hardware component may be called an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) and includes load ports and the mechanical and electrical components needed to interface to the material transport system. Semiconductor factories use closed carriers able to hold a number of wafers in a stack. Open cassettes are used in flat panel production, while a transition to using conveyors is under way in some factories for the new generation (VII) of very large substrates (1.8 meters x 2.2 meters).

Specialized software is used to handle common tasks in equipment and process control. Manufacturing execution systems control the flow of materials through the factory and remotely control individual tools, advanced process control systems monitor the processing of material with a goal of optimizing product quality. Other systems monitor equipment performance with the goal of maximizing uptime and scheduling (preventive) maintenance.

To support the amount and rate of data needed to be communicated between a tool and the factory, all tools are expected to be equipped with at least one network interface capable of handling TCP/IP traffic. This must support (remote) control and monitor functions needed to allow 24/7 operations without manual intervention. Efforts are currently under way to mandate a second high-speed link capable of supporting real-time monitoring of critical process parameters.