Page 14 - ChipScale_Sep-Oct_2020-digital

Proven is given a meaning that relates to the overall quality of the device. To put

it another way, it’s the ability to review the effect the sum of variation has

practiced in the industry.
Used in 5 Billion SiP Packages on the performance and reliability of a part. This approach is not currently
Cost of implementation and training
The rate that semiconductor fabs accommodate new automation
in the past 5 years solutions poses a barrier to being able to quickly change the quality
capabilities of the fab. Most automation systems today are still
fundamentally built around the same paradigm seen over the last 20
years—charts driven by Western Electric rules and out-of-control action
plans (OCAPs) that are based around the errant chart. By the time the
industry accessed streamlined automation solutions, legacy manufacturing
facilities had long since amortized their building costs and depreciation
regimes, running the business with just the operational essentials. This
situation left minimal resources for new development because the revenue
capacity of these facilities does not easily support the required investment
to resolve any singular problem.
Holistic automation solutions address systemic problems rather than
single gaps. Half a million dollars can easily represent half a percent in
profits depending on the facility, which is a significant erosion to margins.
Furthermore, the return on investment is either too small to justify the
risk or takes too long to achieve. Point solutions can easily range from
$150K to $750K, which is a difficult barrier to breach. Understanding
the requirements and the intricacies of the domain and the information
technology (IT) infrastructure required to support it takes a substantial
investment. There is a significant cost to define and test disruptive systems
that can replace the multitude of current automation practices. Unless a
solution can provide a systemic resolution to quality – meaning resolve
several high-value targets – these facilities will not be able to invest. These
paradigms need to straddle the entire supply chain.
Most personnel in these facilities are not focused on developing
new automation solutions, but rather on manufacturing reliable parts
cost effectively. So, accessing the technology to build a holistic and
streamlined quality system is not a realistic expectation for these facilities.
It would require a financial and manufacturing mindset change. A strong
holistic quality program requires both automation and learning systems
From water-soluble to no-clean processes, for those responsible for operating it. While numerous opportunities
exist to automate tasks and decisions that historically were manual, the
Indium Corporation’s wide portfolio of expectation will remain high on understanding the meaning of signals
solders are PROVEN to solve various and quality metrics.
industry challenges. Moving to zero defects
There is certainly a hierarchy of automation need in legacy facilities.
Automated data acquisition is a good starting point, followed by a
Learn more: centralized alarm management system to connect signals and prevent
www.indium.com/SiP/CSR moving materials into process tools that should not run product.
A significant need also exists to reduce human error as part of the
askus@indium.com processing. Recipe management systems play a key role as does
centralized configuration management. After the automation layer is
in place, the ability to expand the capabilities increases. For instance,
once the statistical process control (SPC) practices of the fab access
the raw data of a wafer measurement, the engineering community can
make use of it to isolate within-wafer variation problems. Qualifying
new products is time consuming and preparing for production can
be slow and prone to missing opportunities to define needed tests.
The more understood the variation sources of a facility, the more
opportunity to quickly qualify new products. This knowledge will
directly impact the gap of test coverage that allows 30% of field
failures to persist.

12
12 Chip Scale Review September • October • 2020 [ChipScaleReview.com]