300mm is reshaping the factory automation market
02/01/2002
Robert N. Castellano, president, The Information Network
IC fabrication on 300mm wafers will require complete rethinking, as device manufacturers recognize that full automation and standardization are key to reducing cost and improving performance. With the introduction of larger wafer sizes and the subsequent need for automation and control, equipment that addresses these requirements will become not only more complex, but critical in day-to-day operations.
The 300mm automation revolution is a certainty, since the poor performance of some automation companies at 200mm indicates that significant growth will only come with new 300mm fabs. What we mean by poor performance has to do with growth and ratio of growth to the semiconductor equipment market. For example, the transport market was down in 1997 compared to 1996; down in 1998 compared to 1997; and only up 2.0% in 1999, when the entire equipment market grew 17.0%. The year 2000 was no different for the automation market. The semiconductor process equipment market grew 87.1%, while the factory automation market grew 79.7%. There were 24 fabs built in 2000, four of them 300mm.
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Transition to the complexity of the 300mm factory will be characterized by increased connectivity between process tools, and the use of robotic transfer systems, automation equipment, manufacturing execution system (MES) software, as well as new interfaces. The amount of automation used for processing will grow dramatically, resulting in very high levels of individual tool automation; highly integrated factory computer integrated manufacturing systems; the pervasive use of front-opening unified pods (FOUPs) and minienvironments; automated intrabay-handling systems; factory layouts optimized for automation; and 50% fewer operators.
The greatest impact of full-factory automation will be improved tool utilization. Fab equipment processes production wafers only 30% of the time. The remaining 70% nonproductive time includes the running of engineering test lots and scheduled and unscheduled downtime.
Nearly 20% of a semiconductor factory's output is lost due to idle tools: idle with no product (5%); idle with a tool not scheduled (5%); and idle with no operator (10%). The utilization of automation minimizes the idle time and can result in a savings of $200 million/year for a $1.5 billion fab.
 Figure 1. Market share, 2000, for a) wafer transport, b)robotics, and c) MES software. Numbers have been rounded off. |
A new fab costs $1 billion, with ~$700 million for capital equipment. With a fab revenue-to-cost ratio of about 1.4 to 1, a 1% increase in equipment utilization can provide an additional $9.8 million in annual revenues. Thus, one additional defect/wafer due to contamination or damage could potentially result in million dollar losses in annual revenue. Automated material handling systems (AMHS) can increase yields by reducing semiconductor contamination within the cleanroom.
The overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of equipment installed in today's average 200mm fab is estimated to be approximately 40%, according to Sematech. This means that the equipment is actually running product wafers only 40% of the time the factory is operating. Perhaps more than any other economic factor in the manufacturing equation, increasing OEE offers the largest potential payoff in profitability. In fact, single percentage point improvements in OEE can result in benefits in the tens of millions of dollars.
Wafer tracking
Changes in fab automation will present a number of challenges for 300mm wafer fabrication, including greater complexity in routing, tracking, and scheduling. Material tracking and identification of work-in-progress (WIP) will be a necessary component. The state-of-the-art factory floor control system for WIP-tracking management will enable accurate and timely collection of production data without a high level of operator interaction.
The high level of mechanical automation in the 300mm fab will be accompanied by a tight integration of data automation systems — equipment control, scheduling, and manufacturing systems. The 300mm fabs will be able to progress from basic point-to-point delivery of wafers to continuous, uninterrupted processing, and, eventually, to lights-out operations.
A 300mm fab, as in a 200mm fab, will continue to use an interbay system to transport wafers from bay to bay and store wafers in stockers. This system, however, must be much stronger and wafer storage stockers must be much taller in a 300mm fab. A key difference between 200mm and 300mm fabs will be the installation of an intrabay transportation system to automatically transport wafers into each bay and to each individual tool.
An important feature of 300mm advanced transportation systems will be designing hardware interoperability between interbay, intrabay, and stocker components. This will enable semiconductor manufacturers to expand step-by-step and choose different vendors in various phases for lower costs and higher flexibility.
Wafer transport market
The table shows that worldwide revenue growth for automation tools has not kept pace with revenue growth for the total equipment sector.
 Figure 2. The robotic market, 1999-2004. |
We project that as the semiconductor downturn reverses, we will see the end of 200mm fab construction. Semiconductor manufacturers are aware of the 30-40% improved efficiency of 300mm fabs and will use that cost savings as a leverage when the next downturn in the industry occurs in 2005.
PRI Automation, with a strong market position in the US and Europe, was the market leader in 2000 with a 25.4% share worldwide of the carrier transport market in 2000. The other US player, Asyst Technologies, held a 0.3% share. Daifuku (ESKAY in the US), with a strong market position in Japan and Asia, held a 25.3% share of the carrier transport market, followed by Shinko Electric at 20.5%, as shown in Fig. 1a.
Process tool automation equipment, such as central handling robots, elevators or elevator robots, loadlocks, and transfer chambers and their associated software, also plays an important role in factory automation and tool productivity. Process tool automation reliability, throughput, and cleanliness determine performance.
The process tool automation or robotic market was $2.73 billion in 2000, growing to $4.02 billion in 2004, as shown in Fig. 2.
Of the $2.73 billion market in 2000, the merchant market was $434 million, up from $208 million in 1999. Larger, integrated semiconductor original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) satisfy their substrate-handling needs in-house rather than by purchasing handling systems or modules from an independent merchant source.
Such OEMs comprise the majority (75%) of the current and potential customers of merchant suppliers. Applied Materials, the leading vacuum process equipment OEM, develops and manufactures its own vacuum central wafer handling systems and modules. Applied Materials was the market leader of the $2.3 billion captive market with a 33.7% share, followed by Tokyo Electron with a 5.6% share.
Many OEMs have substantial resources and expertise in substrate handling and automation in vacuum environments and will only purchase products from the outside if the merchant vendor can demonstrate improved product performance as measured by throughput, reliability, contamination control, and repeatability, at an acceptable price.
Brooks Automation was the sector leader with a 40.1% share of the $434 million merchant market, followed by PRI Automation at 22.6% (Fig. 1b). Rorze and Genmark followed with 9.1 and 8.6%, respectively. The merger between Brooks Automation and PRI Automation, expected in 1Q02, should give them a combined market share of more than 60% this year.
Software's role, market
Software is growing in importance in coordinating and organizing new fab automation schemes. MESA International's (www.mesa.org) survey of MES members shows that the benefits users experience are significant. The use of MES reduced manufacturing cycle time by an average of 45%; reduced data entry time, usually by 75% or more; reduced WIP by an average of 24%; reduced paperwork between shifts by an average of 61%; reduced lead time by an average of 27%; reduced paperwork and blueprint losses by an average of 56%; and reduced product defects by an average of 18%.
Accordingly, 11 functions were identified for MES: resource management; organization; product and batch transportation; documents; data collection and acquisition; personnel; quality; process management; maintenance; product traceability and genealogy; and performance analysis.
For MES to work seamlessly in a fab, interconnecting tools from various manufacturers, the system should also conform to interoperable standards. In 300mm processing, the typical MES enables a manufacturer to track orders, monitor processes, manage product formulations, and gather defect information down to the chip level.
Figure 1c shows 2000 MES market share. PRI Automation was the market leader with a 28.6% share of the $133 million market, followed by Applied Materials with 18.0%, and Brooks Automation with 15.8%.
MES revenue includes services derived primarily from annual software maintenance fees, specialized programming services, resident and application consulting services, and customer training. MES vendors offer product support to their customers through comprehensive maintenance agreements. The fast pace of technological innovation has created a demand for a higher level of factory computer integration to achieve more efficient equipment utilization, reduced cost-of-ownership, higher yield, and less downtime.
Smaller geometries and more expensive tools required to produce 200mm wafers are already mandating cost reductions through automation. With the move to 300mm expected during the next 5 years, full factory automation will be inevitable.
This article is based on The Information Network's report "Semiconductor Factory Automation: Technology Issues and Market Forecasts." 8740 Lyon Valley Road, New Tripoli, PA 18066; ph 610/285-4548, www.theinformationnet.com.