Opportunities, challenges and use cases of digitization within the semiconductor industry

Abstract

Over the last years, Infineon Dresden Technologies has continuously been working on offering innovative products and enhancing the productivity of their wafer fabrication areas by increasing fab capacities as well as increasing automation in their 200 and 300 mm wafer manufacturing plants to improve productivity. One of the most important success factors is use of powerful automated material handling systems (AMHS) combined with the digitization of core processes within the whole company. Digitization supports converting a highly automated fab into a "smart fab" by horizontal and vertical integration of the internal supply chains. Within this paper, the authors provide an overview of three use cases for continuous improvement of the manufacturing process through use of automation and digitization to enhance the profitability of the semiconductor manufacturing plant.