In the last 3 months there was a working group under the umbrella of SEMI working on a Maturity Framework – and the 1st results were presented at the SemiCon West last week in Phoenix, AZ.
I had the opportunity to contribute to this work. The attempt is to give existing 200mm Wafer FABs an idea where they rank in terms of automation and autonomy – and eventually a guide where to start with the efforts to catch up.
With the increasing pressure from chips made in Asia – especially legacy nodes technology based – there is only one way to stay competitive: get more output out of the existing factory – ideally with less cost.
Automation and eventually Autonomy using advanced algorithms ( I did not say AI !) will definitely be the way.
Below you can find the presented slides:
As always, the more FABs participate, the better will be the outcome and quality of the frame work. If you are interested to participate – see contact information on the last slide of the attached file.
Factory Physics and Automation blog 