Smart Manufacturing

I recently spoke with Chan Pin CHONG, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Products and Solutions at Kulicke Soffa, about how smart manufacturing is driving new production efficiencies in the semiconductor industry. During our conversation, he also provided practical steps for factory operators to follow in evaluating their smart manufacturing needs in order to ensure successful implementation and discussed the potential payoffs. Based in Singapore, Kulicke Soffa is a leading global provider of ball bonding, advanced packaging, wedge bonding, and electronic assembly equipment for the semiconductor, power and automotive industries.Ng: Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing are critical to the growth of the semiconductor industry. What does the smart manufacturing movement mean to you or Kulicke Soffa?Chong: The future of smart manufacturing is the vision of building a digital connected factory to drive new manufacturing efficiencies by combining physical and cyber technologies. Industry 4.0 integrates discrete systems and harnesses the power of large volumes of data to move towards greater automation.At K S, we define smart manufacturing across the following four key areas embedded in our roadmap for all K S products, from wire bonders and advance placement tools to pick and place machines: Interoperability – This is about machines, devices and sensors connecting to each other. In fact, the very basis of smart manufacturing is that all devices are connected. Information transparency – Through simulation, various artificial intelligence (AI) tools use contextual information to emulate the actual world. Technical assistance – Robots or machines support humans in making decisions or solving problems. Autonomous decision-making – This is our vision that robots or machines can learn from machines to make decisions on their own. Ng: Please elaborate on some of these areas and how they’re the relevant to smart manufacturing. Chong: The need for machines, devices and people to communicate with each other forms the basis of connectivity, the idea of all machines communicating with each other or a host. Connectivity protocols now in place for machine-to-machine connectivity include SEMA, SECS/GEM, SEMI-ELS and IPC-CFX. Machine technology uses various sensing technologies. For example, for a pick and place machine such as SMT platform on K S Hybrid, the algorithm to recognize and align processes is part of the sensor needed in each machine before to can process and add thousands of components to the substrate or panel. In a wire bonder, the ultrasonics or EFO signal can provide some form of sensing technology for a machine to detect process conditions. Importantly, these sensing technologies can be used to collect feedback for process improvements.One example of how K S machines are connected to the host is our use of an intermediate server or host named KNeXt to connects to all assembly equipment in the fab. The equipment can then, in turn, connect to an external secured cloud or K S Global Cloud.Ng: What are the objectives for smart manufacturing?Chong: The ultimate goal is to achieve higher factory productivity or better OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) by improving machine yields, productivity and efficiency. The key is to leverage AI, 5G, the Internet of Things (Iot) and other industry 4.0 technologies to drive automation and process improvements. Ultimately, each factory must meet productivity, yield and cost goals. Smart manufacturing enables factory operators to meet these goals. That is the focus of smart manufacturing.Ng: What is the biggest potential benefit of smart manufacturing?Chong: Smart manufacturing uses data to predict outcomes of a process step or machine operation. Once data is available in the global cloud, analytics can start to build data sets to run statistical modelling and examine factory operation trends. We can also use the data to identify past machine behaviors in order anticipate outcomes, including undesirable ones that we can then prevent.In the SMT example, if we can systematically examine days or weeks of historical performance, we can plot some statistical variations in the process specifically to a pick or placer or a robot and anticipate or avoid problems. However, all sensors must be in place in the bond head or the robot so that we can detect changes or variations in the robot’s movements.Kulicke Soffa smart manufacturing facility Ng: What are some recent factory improvements smart manufacturing has enabled? Chong: Kulicke Soffa has contributed to the hierarchical architecture of the smart factory and key technologies. COVID-19 is driving demand for greater factory connectivity, and K S offers solutions that are key to remote management and full control of smart equipment from a central control and embedding Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing and sensors in manufacturing. Using these technologies, a small smart factory can be remotely operated and managed.With COVID-19 limiting air travel around the world and access to support engineers, the need has grown for remote machine access to reduce the downtime per machine. Remote factory access enables off-site engineers to remotely identify and diagnose machine problems.Ng: What are barriers to faster adoption of smart factories?Chong: While most smart factories are capable of network connectivity and data collection, a key challenge is the lack of a business model for smart factories and smart equipment. Most factories must justify major capital investments by demonstrating ROI (Return of investments) potential. Capital improvements for every factory usually take several years to implement and are based on a complex business model. Factory connectivity requires substantial investments and years to implement. The same is true of the cloud infrastructure buildouts necessary to generate big data and meaningful analytics. The executive mandate for factory management to install capability usually calls for specific business targets in the planning stage.Another longstanding barrier to entry is the lack of compatibility of existing tools with new factory protocols, raising the question of whether the cost of replacing legacy tools justifies the need for a smart factory. If new factory investment is required for the latest tools to support the production of new products, the ROI will be much easier to justify.Ng: How is AI is important in smart manufacturing?Chong: AI interprets and learn from data to perform tasks and meet specific goals. Good examples of AI implementations include Amazon’s Siri and Alexa voice-command devices and self-driving cars being developed by Google and Tesla.At K S, over the years we’ve implemented AI in our smart wire bonders to reduce human intervention in our ProCu-7, PSP-2, ProCu Loop 2, Pro Bump and overhang processes.Thanks to AI, with senses of signals from the bonder, we can reduce the amount of parameters that an engineer or technician have to do trial and error. With on bonder metrology, PBI, loop height, wire sway features, AI allows us to measure process efficiency and provide feedback.Over several years of AI development, we have leveraged the technology to monitor machines and provide real-time performance feedback in order to provide better closed loop control such as short tail recovery in our bonder process. We can also use the data to predict machine behavior, monitor its health and track maintenance. Ultimately, AI enables fabs to improve manufacturing efficiency, productivity, yields and device quality.Ng: What’s an example of how AI has solved your manufacturing equipment problems?Chong: We’ve used AI to set RPM (real time monitor) limits, identify defective P-parts and monitor various conditions such as wire size and capillaries. These types of cases can arise in any manufacturing environment as humans make process mistakes or use the wrong part for a machine. With AI, we can prevent these problems and reduce the risk of further material lost from the wire bonding process.Ng: What advice do you have for factories looking to implement smart manufacturing systems?Chong: To build a smart factory, start by focusing on a clear set of business objectives and how smart manufacturing will help minimize or eliminate current factory inefficiencies. In other words, start with the end in mind – the problems that needs to be solved and the business goals – and identify the information you need to demonstrate ROI. Do you need to resolve, automate or improve processes or just to be more efficient? Before investing millions or billions of dollars to build a smart factory, identify those clear goals upfront. Then map out the particulars of implementation to avoid major problems around standards, protocols and connectivity.Bee Bee Ng is president of SEMI Southeast Asia.

Solving challenges in semiconductor manufacturing requires an ongoing collaborative effort by customers, device makers, equipment and materials suppliers, and academia. ASMC 2021 will continue efforts to help the industry overcome these hurdles. To that end, we are now soliciting abstracts from industry experts across all areas of semiconductor manufacturing for presentations at the event, May 3-6, 2021 at the Saratoga Hilton/Saratoga Springs City Center in Saratoga Springs, New York.The conference provides an unparalleled platform for semiconductor professionals to network and learn the latest information in the practical application of advanced manufacturing strategies and methodologies. ASMC 2021 will be co-chaired by Ishtiaq Ahsan, Ph.D. of IBM Research and Alexa Greer of KLA.We’re looking for presentations in topic areas including the following: Advanced Metrology Advanced Equipment Processes and Materials Contamination Free Manufacturing Big Data Management and Mining Defect Inspection and Reduction Equipment Optimization Factory Automation Industrial Engineering Smart Manufacturing Yield Methodologies Click here to submit an abstract for a technical presentation. Provide an extended abstract of no more than two pages (max. of 1000 words, MS Word or PDF) with supporting data, charts, figures embedded in the last page. See author kit for details. Summarize the topic and theme in as much detail as allowed by the word count limitation. Include title, author(s), company affiliation(s), contact information, topic and five key words describing the work. The final technical manuscript must show a complete set of data to support initial abstract. Here are key deadlines and dates for industry experts to keep in mind: Abstracts Due: October 30, 2020 Author Notification: December 15, 2020 Manuscripts Due: February 9, 2021 Final Manuscripts Due: April 6, 2021 Presentations Due: April 20, 2021 Conference Dates: May 3-6, 2021 ASMC 2021 could be held as a virtual event depending on progress in containing COVID-19. Whether the event is on-site or virtual, all abstracts accepted for presentation will be published by IEEE. Speakers should be prepared to present live or online.Speakers also may be invited to publish their papers in a special section of ASMC 2021, which will be featured in IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing. All technical presentations will be considered for the ASMC Best Paper Award sponsored by Entegris. Students presenting an oral paper or poster will be considered for the ASMC Best Student Paper Award sponsored by GLOBALFOUNDRIES.For a complete overview of topics and other information, please visit the ASMC 2021 Call for Papers web page.Margaret Kindling is senior manager of Programs for SEMI Americas.

Teck Khiong, WOI, senior manager of Factory Integration at Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, recently shared with me how the Infineon backend plant in Singapore has benefited from its journey to qualify for the lighthouse certification.WOI is driving Infinion smart manufacturing projects with a strong focus in the area of connect and control using IoT (Internet of Things) and analytics technologies. Ng: How did the Infineon backend plant in Singapore distinguish itself to qualify for lighthouse certification? WOI: The Infineon Singapore backend manufacturing plant is proud to be a Lighthouse Certified Smart Manufacturing site as part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Fourth Industrial Revolution platform. Our Industry 4.0 (I4.0) implementation reduces labor costs by 30% and improves capital efficiency by 15%. We drove this successful digital transformation continuously investing in our people development and digital backbone.Of the many initiatives under our I4.0 Smart Factory platform, five were selected for WEF Lighthouse submission and certification. Digital foundation with integrated connectivity and workflow execution We implemented an Internet of Things (IoT) framework to connect machines to manufacturing system more than two years ago. The digitization of our Work-in-Progress (WIP) management systems provides full traceability and gives us better control of the four Ms (Man-Machine-Method-Material). Material handling and process automation We progressively deployed automated solutions starting six years ago using autonomous transport, robotic material management systems and automation of packing processes. This eliminated non-value touches in areas of WIP storage and retrieval. Advanced algorithms enabled WIP scheduling and dispatching As our product mix and volume grew in complexity, our advanced algorithms has enabled us to increase our machine uptime, thus reducing idle and set-up time. Manufacturing control tower Our control tower provides a real-time pulse of the entire manufacturing process, from machine efficiency to quality. The tower also improves data integrity and collaborative information sharing while issuing early-warning alerts that enable exception management and timely decisions. Running a global virtual factory Our Global Production Network deployments allows us to connect and manage a growing contract-manufacturing network in real time, with the same transparency, traceability and control as if the manufacturers are our internal sites.About Teck Khiong, WOITeck Khiong, WOI graduated from Loughborough University in the UK with a Master of Science degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). For more than 20 years he has delivered manufacturing IT solutions to global backend (assembly and test) semiconductor manufacturing, ranging from equipment, factory, process control, material handling automation and manufacturing execution systems (MES).

Making Strides TogetherKnowledge is power – especially when it is shared. This principle formed the foundation for Micron’s Go and See virtual visit of its Singapore manufacturing plant on 26 August 2020 as 27 companies including GLOBALFOUNDRIES, ST Microelectronics, Infineon, TEL, ViTrox , IBM, HP and UTAC joined the first-of-a-kind virtual factory visit. The chip industry powerhouses gathered to see how Micron’s Lighthouse frontend wafer fabrication facility leverages Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to drive new production and cost efficiencies.They saw clear markers of a transformed organisation and spoke with working-level staff, managers and front-line employees. Company representatives also met virtually with Micron management teams from organisations that led its digital transformation – from pilot programs to integration at scale – to realise significant financial and operational benefits. The mix of technologies they deployed to make it all happen included artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics and the Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT).Micron’s Singapore-based fab facility earned Lighthouse certification earlier this year from the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network. The Go and See tour was co-sponsored by SEMI Southeast Asia and McKinsey Company.Transformation is CrucialBy embracing Lighthouse principles, semiconductor sectors and companies can accelerate their digital transformation to boost operational and financial efficiency while helping increase productivity across the electronics supply chain. It will take time for Southeast Asia semiconductor manufacturers to transform to digital operations, though we’re seeing growing interest in Industry 4.0 practices as they begin to understand that the deployment of new technologies and applications will help them better understand real-world benefits of smart manufacturing use cases and solutions. SEMI believes shining the spotlight on companies like Micron can illuminate the way forward for other companies to help drive the industry’s digital transformation. We look forward to seeing companies build on this momentum as they start to leverage leading-edge technologies to improve efficiencies and promote sustainability.Bee Bee Ng is president of SEMI Southeast Asia.

Inertial sensors have continued to underpin the success of wearables in increasingly important ways. Propelled by evolutionary advancements in inertial sensors, wearables have strayed from their humble beginnings in simple activity and wellness, which defined the user experience over the past decade. What started with the simple act of telling people their daily step count has morphed to provide deeper insights into swim stroke and run cadence, all the way to mapping out a person’s off-piste ski route. Layered on top of this foundation of inertial sensors, we’ve fused optical, temperature and other sensor technology to provide clinical-grade healthcare snapshots available previously only by visiting the doctor’s office.Inertial sensors today are again leading the way in improving health and wellness. Instead of humans, however, this time the patients are machines. In fact, the health of critical assets – whether factory-based equipment, windmills, train bogies or aircraft – has been assessed through sophisticated analysis of their vibration signatures for many years. The sensors used for these applications have depended on piezoelectric technology because their vibration amplitude signals are very small and difficult to detect and because of the importance of understanding their spectral content over a wide bandwidth. When it comes to noise and bandwidth, bulk piezoceramics have had a major advantage over electrostatic MEMS technology – until recently.Using bulky expensive piezoelectric sensors for condition-based monitoring has been akin to going to the doctor’s office to have an MRI. The equipment required (sensors, receivers) is expensive and requires highly trained specialists to operate the machine and to interpret the information. For this reason, only mission-critical assets are instrumented. For nearly all other equipment, we tend to use inefficient schedule-based maintenance approaches to cover the gap of not having continuous data. Condition-based monitoring leverages real-time sensing of critical machine parameters to reduce system downtime and improve efficiency. Evolving machine healthMEMS started to democratize machine health several years ago, when suppliers began switching from piezoelectrics to capacitive MEMS. While the performance was still not on par with piezoelectric sensors, MEMS technology could already capture a wide array of faults. One example, the ADXL001, started making its way into Integrated Electronics Piezo-Electric (IEPE) and 4-20 mA sensors, which form the backbone of the vibration monitoring market. Although the bandwidth and noise of the sensor did not allow for very early detection and prescriptive monitoring, it did allow the tracking of faults as they progressed and became more imminent.Other digital accelerometers started finding their way into new wireless prototype systems with the goal to simplify and increase deployment to a greater population of assets. The thinking was that self-contained digital wireless sensor nodes could be deployed more economically and quickly, and that these digital sensors would bring the power of computing to the edge node.Unfortunately, even the lowest-noise MEMS products did not have the bandwidth needed to diagnose and predict faults early enough to influence how and when machines are maintained most economically. Instead, such devices were used to detect imminent failure to prevent irreparable harm. As we all know, however, the earlier the doctor spots a problem, the better the probable outcome. That’s because early detection increases the likelihood that the doctor will have access to the full spectrum of treatment options available to fix the problem.Inertial MEMS is blazing a new frontier with the introduction of next-generation capacitive MEMS such as the ADXL100x portfolio. Offering ultra-low noise density and high-frequency response, these newer capacitive MEMS devices fit the bill. With 3dB bandwidths up to 25 kHz and flat response curves within 0.4dB all the way to 10kHz, these accelerometers demonstrate compelling enabling characteristics such as better DC performance, improved robustness, lifetime stability, linearity, and of course, cost, making capacitive MEMS a better choice than piezoelectrics.With high-bandwidth capacitive MEMS much easier to use and deploy – as well as more affordable – the market is starting to respond. Condition monitoring equipment and instrumentation is becoming more accessible to a larger base of manufacturers. In turn, a wealth of data is being created and mined to develop better and timelier predictive and prescriptive maintenance approaches that rely heavily on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).It’s worth paying attention to the sizable condition-based monitoring market. Estimated at $3.5 billion and growing, condition-based monitoring reduces downtime and increases equipment utilization in quantifiable ways. And it’s not just manufacturers who stand to benefit. More sustainable and efficient industrial processes, safer trains that crisscross continents at ever increasing speeds, autonomous cars and trucks that know what’s happening under the hood as well as on the road, and modern infrastructure to support our evolving lives show us that condition-based monitoring has something for everyone.Learn more about Analog Devices’ condition-based monitoring signal-chain options that help customers on the journey from sensor to solution. View ADI’s whole portfolio of condition-based monitoring solutions online or download Next-Generation Condition-Based Monitoring brochure.Tzeno Galchev is product marketing manager in the Inertial Sensor Technology Group at Analog Devices Inc. He oversees the strategic marketing and product definition of the inertial sensor component portfolio. He received B.S. degrees in both Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2006 and 2010 respectively from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has over 30 publications in the area of MEMS, holds multiple patents, and is a frequent lecturer and speaker on topics related to MEMS, energy harvesting and sensors.Analog Devices is a longtime member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community that enables the MEMS and sensor industry to address common challenges, innovate and accelerate business results.

To attract and cultivate new talent across the microelectronics industry, virtual SEMICON West 2020 offered wide-ranging career insights for engineering students seeking that vital first job and young employees embarking on their careers. They learned about overcoming challenges at work and gained a competitive edge by connecting with industry leaders for insider knowledge. These are just some examples of how the SEMI Foundation and the SEMI Workforce Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives serve as a springboard to careers in the industry and help close its talent gap.Following are experiences of aspiring engineers at SEMICON West and career lessons presented to help them shape the future of our semiconductor industry.Jump-Starting Careers at SEMICON West 2020More than 600 students from over 50 colleges and universities across the Unites States joined SEMICON West 2020 to jump-start their careers in the semiconductor industry. With free access to SEMI’s first virtual expo, they connected with recruiters and companies in the exhibit hall, and sponged up insights from speakers about digital internships, job opportunities, and key trends shaping the digital future.“It was almost overwhelming,” said Jason Wong, 20, a junior at San Jose State University working toward an advanced degree in mechanical engineering. “It was kind of like an engineering student’s dream for contacts and knowledge all on one platform.”Wong visited about 15 booths in the online exhibit hall to speak with company representatives about his field of interest – microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).“MEMS is a pretty niche area, so it was really surprising how many companies were there in this category alone,” Wong said.Through the expo’s chat tool, Wong made some solid contacts and has followed up with several engineers via email, LinkedIn and Zoom meetings, cultivating what he believes will be “some long-lasting and valuable connections.”“I’m not really looking for a job at the moment, but I hope to get an internship at some point,” Wong said. “With the current (COVID-19) outbreak, a lot of events with opportunities to interact are no longer available, so this was an enlightening and useful experience for me I plan to attend again.”On the other side of the country in Virginia, Devayani Pawar, 23, found it easy to network at SEMICON West. She especially appreciated the free pass for students and practical sessions in the Smart Workforce Pavilion tailored to help early-career job seekers find opportunities, build contacts, and polish resumes.She was drawn to the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion because of her skills and interests in toolmaking and wafers.“I understand manufacturing and it’s a hot field right now,” said Pawar, who recently earned her master’s degree in data science from George Mason University. “It’s interesting to me how such tiny components can do so much powerful work.”“A lot of people my age aren’t very aware of the microchip industry – they’re mostly focused on information technology and companies like Google, Amazon, or Facebook,” Pawar said.After landing an internship at Micron Technology analyzing wafers and working in clean rooms, she was wowed by the potential of nanotechnology. Pawar learned about the strong demand for data scientists in semiconductor manufacturing. After making connections at SEMICON West and absorbing information, she now has a better handle on career opportunities.“The recruiters and other contacts I made have been so responsive, and now I have a better understanding of use cases and what companies are seeking,” she said.A Day in the Life of an EngineerRight after college in 2017, Erika Gabrielle Hansen joined Applied Materials as an engineer. She told management she wanted to travel, learn about the “big picture” behind the company’s products, and work with customers.In her presentation A Day in the Life of an Engineer at the SEMICON West Smart Workforce Pavilion, she recalled a whirlwind of unforeseen opportunities, soul-searching challenges, and the rewards of personal, professional, and community growth. She also candidly shared lessons learned about pride, collaboration, and resilience.Her journey began when she had the opportunity to share her aspirations for her at career at Applied and landed a dual role as a process engineer and customer account technologist.In her job as a process engineer, Hansen puts her materials engineering degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to good use analyzing data, solving technical problems, developing new processes to meet customer requirements, and working with cutting-edge technologies. At one moment she might be in a clean-room laboratory wearing a bunny suit doing hands-on work with tools. In another, she could be videoconferencing with hardware, software, and systems engineers worldwide, or preparing a report for upper management.“I was very nervous at first as a process engineer,” Hansen said. “I was the only person in my group who didn’t have a Ph.D. and tried to compensate for that by doing things on my own and not asking for help.”After making a few mistakes, she began to turn to her team for their expertise and sharing the results of her work – both good and bad – with them.“Having humility to ask for help and not let pride get in the way was a huge learning point for me,” she said.As a customer account technologist, she has made a dozen trips to customer sites in four countries to implement new processes or resolve technical issues. By seeing tools in action, she now has what she calls a “whole picture” perspective on their effectiveness, while enjoying the camaraderie of colleagues and sampling local cuisines, sites, and scenes around the world.At one point, she was assigned to lead an international team to resolve an issue with a major customer – her greatest challenge yet and her first time in such a role. She struggled to overcome language barriers and eventually told her boss she might not be the best person to lead the project. He promised to provide more support, and her team went on to resolve the customer’s problem.“I picked myself up, reached out to people with international experience, and changed my communication style,” Hansen said. “I learned it’s okay to be uncomfortable, to flex my leadership style, and be resilient, which is a learned skill.”Building a Better Network: Crucial ConnectionsAndrew Carnegie, one of history’s richest industrialists and most generous philanthropists, said 85 percent of a person’s success is based on “interpersonal relationships” and “abilities to be a human being.” Professional skills account for just 15 percent of success.While advancing to her current role as Chief Marketing Officer for FormFactor, Amy Leong found this advice critical to her career trajectory. Just like the challenge of raising a strong family, building a successful career “takes a village… you can’t do it alone,” she said in her Smart Workforce Pavilion presentation Building a Better Network: Crucial Connections.Outperforming expectations might be essential early in one’s career to get promotions, raises, and the attention, but that mindset goes only so far.“As seniority levels increase, people already know you’re a phenomenal performer and expect nothing less,” Leong said. “So, the higher you go the more vital it is to spend almost a disproportionate amount of effort on building relationships.”Building your network isn’t about the quantity of one’s business cards or LinkedIn connections; it’s about building quality relationships with mutual benefits over the long run.“We need to be smart about return on investment when building our professional network,” she said. “You help me, and I help you. It’s win-win horse trading.”And the most important factor in career success? For Leong, a strong family foundation has mattered most.“Family comes first,” said Leong, who has twin teenagers. “Take care of the ones you love. Check in with your family whenever you can. Family relationships are bound by blood. Thanks to my retired parents and a helpful husband, we tough it through.”She reemphasized the importance of mutually beneficial relationships, noting “A rising tide will lift all boats.”Fostering Talent for the Industry’s FutureDeveloping young talent and future leaders in microelectronics stands as a persistent and growing need – and a critical challenge to realizing expected growth. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and augmented/virtual reality are expected to impact a huge range of markets, leading to projections that the semiconductor industry will double in size in the next 10 to 15 years.The opportunities for growth and technologies that promise to improve the quality of human life worldwide are breathtaking. The industry’s talent pool will need to scale accordingly, magnifying the importance of expanding industry-wide programs such as the Workforce Development and DEI initiatives that the SEMI Foundation are building. Learn more about how you and your company can get involved with these initiatives on the SEMI Foundation website.Shari Liss is executive director of the SEMI Foundation. She oversees SEMI Workforce Development programs from K-12 through re-skilling for veterans.

Gursharan Singh, Micron’s senior vice president of Global Assembly and Test, spoke with us about the progress of Micron’s new facility in Penang, the company’s smart manufacturing advancements, its ongoing initiatives to hire and develop talent, and its support of the greater Malaysian community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Micron to Open Center of Excellence in PenangMicron’s 52.6-acre Center of Excellence for SSD assembly and test in Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang is slated to open in early 2021. Micron is investing RM1.5 billion over the next five years and has committed to adding 1,000 team members.“In parallel to the building’s construction, we have built a temporary site in Seberang Prai where nearly 1,000 of our team members have already set up the production line for SSD,” Singh said. “Once the new plant is ready, this operation will be moved to Batu Kawan, giving us the advantage to ramp up production and hit the ground running without the lag of waiting for the operationalization of a new facility.”Malaysia to Gain From Micron’s Global Manufacturing NetworkMicron’s commitment to Malaysia extends beyond business investments. As an industry powerhouse, Micron’s Malaysia operations will tap into its global expertise and best practices.“Malaysia is in a unique position to benefit due to its close proximity with our NAND Center of Excellence in Singapore,” Singh said. “We are learning from our factory in Singapore, which implements the latest advances in smart manufacturing, as we develop the facility in Batu Kawan. Those lessons will be used to ensure that new technologies are deployed cost-effectively and push the envelope to get them to the next level.”On the talent front, Micron is creating a pipeline of local Malaysian talent from a young age. This means driving multiple STEM initiatives targeting local primary and secondary schools and includes a Women in Science and Engineering Program we’re offering at 39 of Penang’s secondary schools. We’re also creating internships for engineering degree holders through the company’s Industry Student Engagement Program (ISEP) and continuing a training program for young diploma holders held in conjunction with Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) to give them skills that are required by the industry.Our workforce development initiative also gives Micron an opportunity to work with young talent new to the industry so they can learn and undergo in-depth industry training from more experienced peers."We use our global network of expertise to train young workers and give them the opportunity to learn and participate in this start-up-like environment,” Singh said. “We have already hired nearly 40 new college graduates from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Our game plan is to continue on this path by hiring a higher percentage of local graduates and giving them access to our facilities to learn our technology and advance our Malaysia facility. More than that, we hope our collaboration with local universities can extend further into high-impact research initiatives that benefit the wider community."Micron’s Commitment to Malaysia’s Communities During the COVID-19 PandemicMicron is investing in the greater Malaysian community as the country fights the current COVID-19 pandemic. Malaysia is one of five countries prioritized to receive grants from Micron’s $35 million global relief fund. The company recently announced a RM2.6 million donation from the Micron Foundation that will help the three groups most in need – front-line workers and hospitals, children and the elderly in charitable homes, and underprivileged families in Muar and Penang near its facilities. The goal is to quickly distribute aid such as medical and personal protective equipment, food and household items, and financial assistance.In addition, Micron is supporting its Malaysian employees by making a one-time assistance payment of RM1,300 to 94% of its workforce based in Muar and Penang. This is the percentage of the workforce meeting the eligibility criteria.Designated as an essential services provider by the Malaysian government, Micron continues to maintain its local operations. Micron products built in Malaysia are critical to helping the world effectively cope with COVID-19. Our technology enables advanced medical devices for treatment, data centers and supercomputers used by scientists to find new solutions, and e-learning and videoconferencing capabilities that connect the world during this period of restricted movement.Sangeeta Rajgopal is Head of Country Communications Marketing, Singapore Malaysia Global Communications Marketing, Micron

Augmented reality (AR) tyrannosauruses towered on-screen as I interacted with the creatures in a mix of prehistoric and cutting edge. Or, rather, my AR double was doing the playacting. Minutes later, virtual doppelgangers of a small lineup of chip industry executives cut the ceremonial ribbon. Seemingly sweeping away the winter chill, the opening of SEMICON Japan 2019 dazzled with smart technology and the promise of lives, cities and workplaces transformed, with uber-intelligent applications in full display at Tokyo Big Sight. But what resources does the industry need to harness to drive the next era of innovation? The semiconductor industry’s unwavering passion and young talent are key, said Hiroshi Imano, Chairperson of the SEMICON Japan Initiatives Committee, in his opening keynote. And hardly any region of the world is in a better position to help realize that future than Japan, Imano said. The region supplies one third of the equipment and more than half of all materials to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry.Talent was also top of mind for SEMICON Japan 2019 keynote speaker Makiko Eda, Japan's Chief Representative Officer at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Serving as a platform for public-private partnerships, the organization's mandate is to tackle global issues such as climate change and geopolitical strife in making world more resilient to risk and, by extension, more sustainable.Spanning ecology, economy, technology, society, geopolitics and industry, that mission includes reskilling and upskilling a billion people over the next decade, a high priority for WEF, which hosts a conference every January in Davos, Switzerland. The theme of this month's conference – Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World – reflects the vital importance of building the international partnerships and global consensus necessary to achieving WEF's goals.One key to that sustainability will be technology and Arm, a global chip design company, will play a key role, with the company’s chips touching over 70 percent of the world’s population, Arm president Yuzuru Utsumi said in his keynote. Today, Arm is driving toward an ambitious goal: Ship 100 billion chips from 2017 to 2021 – the same number produced over the previous quarter century – by powering advances in mobile computing, server and networking infrastructures, and automotive applications.Arm’s innovation ecosystem of more than 1,000 partners will deliver these chips as they continue to work together to develop differentiated technology. Arm plans to increase investments not only in its primary processor business to accelerate market share gains but in the company’s new IoT business to create new revenue streams. The goal: Deliver long-term sustainable growth, Utsumi said. SEMICON Japan 2019 showcases SMART manufacturing and transportation Billed as a showcase of smart technologies, SEMICON Japan 2019 delivered with an array of eye-grabbing exhibitions in the popular SMART Applications Zone. In the SMART Transportation area, the automatic operation pavilion featured a car equipped with open-source software for autonomous driving. The exhibitor, Tier IV, aims to help lead the early commercialization of self-driving vehicles through the adoption of its software, Autoware, which makes it easier to develop self-driving vehicle prototypes using low-power platforms.Sony Semiconductor Solutions demonstrated a vision sensing processor designed to guide autonomous drones. Using two cameras, the processor measured the changing distance between visitors moving about the exhibit and stationary objects in real time, indicating proximity in hues of red (nearby) and blue (at a distance). Many visitors were wowed, describing the multichromatic display as futuristic.Others rode a simple wooden swing hanging by two ropes, but from dizzying heights thanks to Solidray’s Duo-Sight, a virtual reality (VR) system that projects 3D images stretching from wall to floor for immersive experiences. One visitor thrilled at how riding the swing, suspended only a few feet from the floor, felt like soaring on a flying trapeze. Target applications for the technology include virtual rides at amusement parks and presenting interior design options to homeowners.In the SMART Manufacturing area, one highlight was the demonstration by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of a remote-controlled Minimal Fab System designed for low-volume, high-mix chip production with little staffing. Designed to increase production efficiency, the system allows a circuit designer to manufacture a semiconductor by singlehandedly operating equipment up and down the production line. Controlling nearly 50 pieces of equipment, the Minimal Fab System on display manufactured chips that were verified for functional operation and exhibited afterwards.On the SMART Applications stage, exhibitors DENSO and Toyota Motor Corporation announced a new joint venture to conduct research and advanced development of the next-generation in-vehicle semiconductors critical to electric and autonomous vehicle innovation. The venture, operating as MIRISE Technologies, will combine Toyota’s mobility expertise with DENSO’s in-vehicle component prowess. The goal is to build a rapid, competitive development system by 2030, said Yoshifumi Kato, executive director of the DENSO Research and Development Center, and president and representative director of the venture. On track to begin work this year, MIRISE will span three fields of technology development: power electronics, sensing and SoC (System-on-a-Chip). The name MIRISE combines word the Japanese word "mirai" (future) with "rise."Business Continuity PlanningNatural disasters and other emergencies are an ongoing threat to uninterrupted business operations across the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain and particularly in earthquake-prone Japan. To better prepare for business disruptions and restore normal operations as soon as possible after disaster strikes, more companies are teaming on Business Continuity Planning (BCP).THK's Seismic Isolation Experience Car demonstrated one technology designed to help – a seismic isolation device. The car shakes like an earthquake to give people inside a taste of how a building heaves and sways during a quake with and without the device deployed. Visitors were struck by how much the isolator dampens tremors to prevent or minimize damage. In the BCP seminar, representatives from Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, THK, DISCO and Team Engineering Consulting shared lessons learned from actual disasters and discussed the critical importance of daily disaster drills. Yukihide Keigo, Executive Engineer in charge of Products and Development at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, recounted how the company’s Kumamoto Prefecture plant struggled for 96 days to restore full operations after the facility sustained heavy damage in the 2016 earthquake. Keigo said the plant lacked the structural reinforcements necessary to withstand the impact and fell prey to poor planning and accountability. The Kumamoto plant has since implemented measures – structural and procedural improvements – that more accurately account for seismic risks to ensure full recovery within 56 days. The plant’s new procedures include emergency drills for staff including night-shift workers.Innovation abounds at six SuperTHEATER forumsSEMICON Japan 2019 was held in the West and South Halls of Tokyo Big Sight as organizers of the Tokyo Olympics occupied the East Hall, the exhibition's usual home at the venue, to prepare for the 2020 games. For the first time, the main stage, SuperTHEATER, was set up in the cavernous arena near the main entrance. The SuperTHEATER featured six forums over three days. Semiconductor Executive Forum – View by Top Two in the Era of Digitalization with thought leaders from IHS Markit and Sony Semiconductor Solutions SMART Connectivity Forum – Infinite World Brought by 5G Innovation with experts from Softbank and Nokia Solutions Networks SMART Transportation Forum I – Front-line of Automated Driving featuring speakers from Intel and DENSO SMART Transportation Forum II – Revolution of Sky Transportation, supported by the U.S. Commercial Service in Japan, with presenters from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Subaru and Bell Helicopter Manufacturing Innovation Summit – Issues and Innovation: What will Drive Growth to 2030 featuring thought leaders from VLSI Research, Applied Materials, KLA, Nikon and Tokyo Electron Mirai Vision Forum – Future Relation of Technology and Body 2.0 with speakers from Leave a Nest, Ory Lab and Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory The Mirai Vision Forum highlighted advanced technologies that could lead to societal improvements. One presenter, Kentaro Yoshifuji, CEO at Ory Lab, recalled how, as a child, he once stayed home from school while recovering from an illness. His imagination in full flight, the youngster imagined having a clone that could attend school and be with his classmates. The experience eventually inspired him to develop OriHime, a robot that gives socially isolated people a way to communicate with friends or colleagues remotely. Originally developed for physically impaired people, OriHime today is used to help the able-bodied. The robot is situated with the companion and the user operates OriHime remotely. A camera and monitor in OriHime’s face provide the visual and audio connection and the user controls the device with a smartphone or tablet or, for those who are paralyzed, through eye movement. One potential application: With OriHime stationed at a business office, working mothers could use OriHime to telecommute to better balance their careers with their parenting responsibilities at home. The robot would be a mother’s go-between, enabling her to communicate directly with colleagues.The next generation of innovators also took the stage as five teams presented innovative business ideas in friendly competition. The top prize in The TECH CAMP Hackathon went to the group that hatched an ingenious plan to develop a jacket that trains users to move their bodies in preprogrammed ways. For example, legendary Japanese professional baseball player Shigeo Nagashima could wear the gear while batting to program the device, then give the jacket to someone who’s never swung a baseball bat. The jacket would help the user replicate Nagashima’s swing. Now comes the real work of any innovator – executing on the vision.And then came two soccer-playing artificial intelligence (AI) robots that squared off and ... Scored! The demonstration by the Toyota National College of Technology started as a research project by Toyota National College students in 2002. The young innovators designed and developed all the robotic hardware and software from scratch. Looking ahead to SEMICON Japan 2020!SEMICON Japan 2019 not only gathered leading Japanese semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment providers to demonstrate their latest innovations. The premiere regional event also provided insights on key trends critical to the entire electronics manufacturing supply chain. This year’s event drew more than 51,000 visitors and 695 exhibitors from 15 regions filling more than 1,700 booths.SEMICON Japan 2020 returns to East Hall at Tokyo Big Sight in December 2020. I look forward to seeing you there!Jim Hamajima is president of SEMI Japan.

Smart technologies have gripped the world’s imagination with their promise to revolutionize the way we live and work. With the semiconductor supply chain central to these advances, SEMI Japan in October hosted 200 members for SEMI Japan Members Day as speakers from three of the world’s top device manufacturers – Denso, Sony and Kioxia – offered their perspectives on the strides the semiconductor industry needs to make in three key areas: automotive, smart manufacturing and 3D flash memory manufacturing technology. Automotive Evolution and Electronics – DensoThe automotive industry is re-inventing itself to innovate across connectivity, autonomy, sharing and electric (CASE) and ensure safe, comfortable and environmentally friendly autonomous driving, said Nobuaki Kawahara, executive fellow and director of the Advanced Research and Innovation Center at Denso. Key focus areas of Denso in CASE innovation are Extraordinary Safety and Everyday Confidence. The company’s goal is to minimize damage to vehicles involved in collisions or one-car accidents by making it easier for drivers to detect and steer clear of objects in their path.To improve automobile safety and security, the company is developing advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies as it promotes the confluence of four areas of technology – HMI (Human Machine Interface), environmental recognition, vehicle control assistance, and information and communications. One use case Denso sees as a significant opportunity is deploying sensors such as millimeter-wave radar, cameras and LiDAR to monitor a vehicle’s surroundings, using GPS and precision mapping to pinpoint its location and determine the best route for safety and distance, and then transmitting that information to a motion-control system.Denso is also out to solve the hard challenges associated with autonomous driving in dynamic road conditions. Kawahara pointed out that road conditions vary and that rules for "driving at certain intervals in a certain lane" vary depending on the time of day. Also, on public roads in Abashiri, Hokkaido, where the company is currently conducting field tests, snowfall makes it difficult to recognize road images and gather sensor information. In Asia, it is also common for motorcycles and automobiles to speed along with very little space between them.Image Sensors to Accelerate Development of Smart Manufacturing – SonyTo fulfill the promise of smart manufacturing, the semiconductor supply chain must continue to invest in sensor and imaging technology innovation, said Shigeo Ohba, deputy senior general manager of the Imaging System Business Division at Sony Semiconductor Solutions. For its part, Sony is developing imaging sensors that help network and automate factories to achieve new production and cost efficiencies. For example, the company plans to design devices to increase equipment uptime through predictive maintenance, reduce defect rates and drive other manufacturing efficiencies. The challenge with today’s factory lines that produce a number of different devices is that they are highly complex to manage and therefore prone to human error, undercutting manufacturing efficiency. In the future, AI-powered machines will leverage data analysis to help streamline operations. Adapting an image sensor with AI to machine vision applications can simplify key processes such as measurement and inspection processes while reducing safety and security costs.Of the vast amount of information on all machines connected to the cloud, only essential details will be processed at the edge since edge data processing offers stronger security and reduces data transfer time. Ohba said image sensors will evolve based on edge AI, adding that "AI will be a paradigm shift for image sensors if it’s economically feasible."3D Flash Memory Manufacturing Technology Challenges – KioxiaIncreasing connectivity in factories for smarter, more efficient operations places huge demands on memory since networked devices typically store duplicate data, said Hideshi Miyajima, head of the Advanced Memory Development Center (AMDC) at Kioxia. To meet demand for higher networking speed and capacity, 2d NAND flash memory is moving to 3D and, in particular, three 3D techniques: multivalued memory, cell partitioning and layer stacking.To increase storage capacity, the third-generation 64-layer BiCS FLASH™ stacks layers to form nearly two trillion holes with a diameter of 100nm and a depth of 5μm on a wafer and places a uniform 2-3nm thin film on the inner wall of each 5-μm hole. For its BiCS FLASH™, Kioxia uses a dry etching technique that forms a straight, elongated through-hole and atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology, which creates a uniform laminate atomic layer on the wafer surface to grow materials uniformly and with high precision on large, complex substrates.In order to meet the cost expectations of high-volume 3D flash memory manufacturers, outlays across fabs must be reduced by better monitoring plasma control, enhancing yield through particle control, speeding film formation, and reducing gas, power and water usage, Miyajima said.SMART Transportation and SMART Manufacturing in the Spotlight at SEMICON JapanPlease join us at SEMICON Japan 2019, December 11-13 at Tokyo Big Sight, for the latest developments and trends in SMART Transportation and Smart Manufacturing. There are also a few other great reasons to attend. We look forward to seeing you in Tokyo!Jim Hamajima is president of SEMI Japan.

Back in February of this year, we launched SEMI Works™, a landmark SEMI program designed to grow and sustain the electronics industry talent pipeline from the ground up. But it was much more than a program launch. The introduction was a resounding statement of our passionate commitment to workforce development and its incontrovertible importance to the future of the microelectronics industry. No one’s passion for workforce development burns brighter than SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha’s. In April, he reiterated SEMI’s focus to make good on this commitment and laid out the broad outlines of SEMI Works. From the outset, our sights have been firmly fixed on execution. The National Science Foundation (NSF), a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in science and engineering, recently lent its support to SEMI Works with a $6 million investment to develop a scalable, sustainable apparatus to meet current and future talent requirements of the end-to-end electronics manufacturing industry. And more financial backing – this time from abroad – could well be in the offing. We are pressing ahead to develop the infrastructure to connect talent, industry and education providers at scale. We are expanding proven programs for exciting and engaging students in experiential learning opportunities at a young age. And we are paving the way to offer career and educational pathways through high school, college and adult and veteran training. Regional partners are essential to scaling these programs, and to date we have identified three regions for pilots to develop the infrastructure and business model that will be heartbeat of SEMI Works.Moore’s Law is losing steam, raising hard questions about the semiconductor industry’s ability to maintain its swift pace of innovation. The clarion call for chipmakers is to design ever smaller electronic circuits with higher processing power for devices with shrinking form factors. More computing muscle is crucial to advances in smart manufacturing, medtech, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and the IoT – all technologies that generate and consume staggering amounts of data.Yet no obstacle to industry growth stands as tall as the brick wall of the talent shortage. A highly skilled workforce is essential to invention. As an industry, we’ll only be equal to the world’s greatest challenges by recruiting, training and retaining the best and brightest.At this critical juncture in what is the world’s most strategic industry, the public and private sectors must work collaboratively to leverage their collective strength to produce the talent required to power technology development today and well into the future.In 2020 SEMI will mark 50 years of facilitating collaborations to mint new technologies and markets. We are uniquely positioned, with our members, to lead what history may one day record as our most important effort to date, a push that could impact the world for decades to come. The industry needs a lasting solution to expand and sustain its talent pipeline. SEMI is taking decisive action with SEMI Works. Mike Russo is vice president of Global Industry Advocacy at SEMI.