Optimizing Fab Efficiency: Advanced Production Scheduling in a Seagate Technology Wafer Fab

Wafer fabrication is not only a highly complex manufacturing process but also capital intensive. With the cost of a single new 300mm fab now exceeding $1bn and with some tools costing in excess of $40m, fixed costs are significant and demand high fab utilization.  

In an environment where capacity and production efficiency is key to continued cost reductions, the benefit of high-quality scheduling is huge to factory efficiency. It enables higher utilization of expensive toolsets (e.g., photolithography and etch), reduces cycle times and ensures on-time delivery. 

During this webinar, we will: 

• Discuss traditional heuristic-based scheduling practices versus an innovative approach to wafer fab scheduling, developed by Flexciton in close cooperation with Seagate Technology 
• Present conclusions from offline simulation benchmark studies that involved historical datasets of the metrology toolsets in the Seagate Springtown 
• Share the results achieved in production after applying this advanced scheduling solution in a Seagate Technology facility in Northern Ireland
• Discuss the key learnings from the implementation process

About Flexciton:

Flexciton applies cutting-edge technology to optimize the planning and scheduling decisions for the world's most complex manufacturing process - semiconductor wafer fabrication. Utilizing over 10 years of academic research and industrial studies, Flexciton's engineers have developed a hybrid-optimization model aimed at solving the production scheduling problems that were previously unsolvable. Flexciton is a member of SEMI.org and FOA. The company was shortlisted for the Best of West Award at SemiconWest 2020.  www.flexciton.com
 

About Seagate:

Seagate Technology is a data storage company and the Springtown facility is at the heart of the $25Billion dollar data storage industry. Seagate opened it’s wafer facility in Derry in N. Ireland in 1993. There are only 5 type facilities in the world which we are the largest. Seagate has a second wafer facility in Minnesota which mirrors what we produce here in Derry. The Springtown facility supplies approx. 25% of all read-write heads for hard drives globally. www.seagate.com