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Major Revision Update for SEMI E10 Specification for Definition and Measurement of Equipment Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM)

Thomas Pomorski, Productivity Management Associates

The SEMI E10 Revision Task Force is preparing a comprehensive update of the SEMI E10 standard for balloting in 2009. The next revision will include updated formatting, improved standardization of terminology and alignment of methodology with the other standards in the equipment performance and productivity suite, and a complete review of all RAM metrics and state definitions. SEMI E10-0304 included reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) metrics for multi-path cluster tools as Related Information to solicit user feedback on the proposed methodology. The new revision of SEMI E10 will further refine and expand the multi-path cluster tool RAM metrics based on user’s experience. The revised cluster tool RAM metric definitions and methodology will move from Related Information to the main body of the document as official metrics. With the large number of changes occurring in the new revision to SEMI E10, the entire document will be reballoted. As the release of the updated SEMI E10 draws closer, training sessions will be scheduled to ensure that users understand the latest major changes to the document.

The semiconductor industry has been instrumental in developing a methodology for tracking and evaluating the application of information from equipment regarding its operating condition (Trybula and Pratt 1994). Originally published in 1986, SEMI E10 Specification for Definition and Measurement of Equipment Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) is the ‘granddaddy’ of SEMI equipment performance and productivity metrics and is one of the most widely used SEMI standards. SEMI E10 establishes definitions for basic equipment conditions, RAM metrics, and equipment utilization measurement providing a common language and methodology between equipment suppliers and users. “[SEMI E10] has become a standard for tracking performance of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment and a benchmark for other industries.” (Dhudshia 2008 p. 35)

SEMI E10 establishes six basic equipment states and aggregations of those states as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Additional visibility and greater resolution of equipment operation may be achieved by creating user-defined sub-states that map to the six basic states. This allows users to customize their SEMI E10 application to specific operating scenarios and equipment performance objectives while maintaining compliance with the SEMI E10 major state definitions and RAM/Utilization metrics.

Figure 1 - SEMI E10 Basic State Stack Chart.

Figure 2 - SEMI E10 Basic States.

SEMI E10 further defines equipment RAM and utilization metrics that provide the uniform common language for equipment users and suppliers to analyze equipment performance and identify improvement opportunities throughout the equipment life cycle. SEMI E10 supports supplier-user relationships by providing a basis to establish equipment performance requirements during purchase and service negotiations. The acceptance of SEMI E10 as the foundation for performance specification improves user-supplier relationships that stimulate cooperation and partnership and promotes continuous improvement in equipment design and support (Dhudshia 2008). SEMI E10 provides the baseline equipment performance information utilized for capacity analysis and constraint management, as well as baseline data for a suite of higher level performance metrics including Cost of Ownership defined in SEMI E35(Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International 2004), Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) defined in SEMI E79 (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International 2006), and Factory Level Productivity defined in SEMI E124 (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International 2007) as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - The Suite of Performance and Productivity Metrics.

SEMI E10 is particularly tightly linked with SEMI E79, providing critical equipment time-in-state information used in equipment productivity (OEE) metrics (Figure 4) (Pomorski 2005). This integration of SEMI E10 and SEMI E79 allows continuous improvement teams to identify productivity improvement opportunities and track the success of improvement efforts using common equipment state tracking data collection.

Figure 4 - SEMI E10 State to SEMI E79 OEE Mapping.

SEMI E10 also links with Equipment Performance Tracking-SEMI E116 (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International 2007) to determine equipment states in an automated equipment environment as shown in Figure 5 (DiIorio 2006).

(Source: Steven J. Meyer, Intel)

Figure 5 - SEMI E116 EPT State to SEMI E10 State Mapping.

The SEMI E10 Revision Task Force is finalizing updates to SEMI E10 for balloting by the end of 2009. Remote teleconference meetings will take place during August and September 2009 and final ballot preparation is targeted for the SEMI Fall Standards meetings in San Jose, CA, in November 2009. User and supplier participation is welcome and anyone wishing to join the revision effort may contact SEMI staff for meeting schedules and to become a member of the SEMI E10 Revision Task Force.

References

  • Dhudshia, V. (2008). Hi-Tech Equipment Reliability: A Practical Guide for Engineers and Managers. Bloomington IN, iUniverse, Inc.
  • DiIorio, S. (2006). SEMI Equipment Performance Standards Integration. SEMICON West 2006 STEP. Methods to Measure/Improve Equipment Productivity, San Francisco CA, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
  • Pomorski, T. (2005). Productivity Metrics - General Concepts and Literature Review (Public), Productivity Management Associates.
  • Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (2004). SEMI E35-0304 - Cost of Ownership for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Metrics, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
  • Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (2006). SEMI E79-1106 Specification for Definition and Measurement of Equipment Productivity. San Jose CA, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
  • Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (2007). SEMI E116-0707E Specification for Equipment Performance Tracking. San Jose CA, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
  • Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (2007). SEMI E124-0307: GUIDE FOR DEFINITION AND CALCULATION OF OVERALL FACTORY EFFICIENCY (OFE) AND OTHER ASSOCIATED FACTORY-LEVEL
  • Trybula, W. J. and M. Pratt (1994). Applying SEMI E10 Guidelines to Manufacturing. Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, 1994. 'Low-Cost Manufacturing Technologies for Tomorrow's Global Economy', La Jolla, CA, IEEE.

About the Author:

Thomas Pomorski is an independent consulting engineer with Productivity Management Associates focusing on manufacturing productivity continuous improvement and maintenance management best practice implementation. He co-chairs the SEMI Standards Metrics Committee and SEMI E10 Revision Task Force, and chairs the SEMI E79 Task Force and Metrics Education and Adoption Subcommittee. Thomas has been a maintenance and production manager and consultant in the semiconductor industry for twenty-nine years.