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Benefits of Migrating from Legacy MES Software for
Aerospace Microelectronics Manufacturing
Benefits of Migrating from Legacy MES Software for Aerospace
Microelectronics Manufacturing
Ron France, Senior Principle Consultant
Eyelit Inc., 5685 Whittle Rd., Mississauga, Ontario, L4Z 3P8
Phone: (905) 502-6184
Fax: (905) 502-9117
Email: [email protected]
Introduction
Compound semiconductor manufacturers deployed Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to
help track material and control manufacturing processes. These mission-critical systems are
required for semiconductor wafer fab processing. These systems are either custom (homegrown) or commercial products. Many of these systems were deployed in the 1990’s and are
built on out-dated hardware and written in languages such as Cobol and Fortran. The two most
widely deployed systems in front-end wafer processing are PROMIS and WorkStream, which
are both currently owned by Applied Materials. In many cases, these legacy systems have
neared or reached the end of their lifecycles. These systems have limited or reduced support,
they may run on hardware that is not longer supported, and they have other functional
limitations. The cost and resources required to maintain these outmoded systems is a growing
concern for compound semiconductor manufacturers. A number of compound semiconductor
manufacturers have active projects or evaluations underway to replace these aging systems.
The proposed session is a follow-up session from a CS Mantech 2011 session from MAX
International Engineering Group, “MES selection and Benchmark Survey Case Study”. In that
session, MAX IEG presented a case study regarding the selection process for a new MES to
replace a legacy MES system. This session will discuss the challenges, implementation process,
and benefits realized by CS Mantech Member Company with the implementation of that new
MES system.
Purpose
The intent of this session is to cover in detail the key business drivers, challenges, and benefits
realized by implementing a new MES system.
Business drivers:
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End of life software (key incentive)
High maintenance costs for both software support and hardware
Limited use of legacy software for tracking lot progress and dispatch lots only
 Copyright 2013-2014 – Eyelit Confidential and Proprietary
1
Benefits of Migrating from Legacy MES Software for
Aerospace Microelectronics Manufacturing
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Reduction of paper that is used widely for additional tracking and information gathering
Time and cost associated with paper-driven processes
High number of custom systems and solutions built as workarounds for legacy system,
which makes maintenance and support more complicated and expensive
Limited resources with knowledge of how to use legacy system
Challenges
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End users have worked with legacy system for years, and would require training on a
new application
Change certain business processes with new software to take advantage of new system
Existing system integrated into a vast majority of manufacturing routines
High mix production environment with many experiments running with production lots
Aerospace-specific concerns, such as additional requirements for high-reliability
products, and record retention for many years
Requires involvement from a number of cross-functional teams: IT, microelectronic
engineers, fab management, planning, production control, vendor team, etc.
Benefits:
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Eliminate end-of-life MES
Eliminated or reduced use of over 50 disparate systems, ranging from WIP tracking, lot
traveler, dispatching, asset management, data collection/SPC, die tracking, etc.
Reduce recurring server and software costs
Paperless lot travelers
o Cost reduction for traveler materials, handling, and storage
o Faster data handling for lots
 Splitting a lot into 2 lots used to take 4+ hours
o Better configuration control and consolidation of similar processes
o Instant access to lot records
Integration of data between lot movement, measured data, tools used, and technician
training
o More data is available from any computer
Reduction of custom point solutions and spreadsheets
Improved labor charging allocation
 Copyright 2013-2014 – Eyelit Confidential and Proprietary
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