The role of CIM for the fab of the future and custom IC manufacturing

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) will be vital to the profitable production of future sub-micron memory, logic and analog IC products. Computer technology now makes it possible to monitor and control very complex IC production operations. Without this technology it will not be possible to achieve the cycle times and yields that justify the tremendous investment in new fabrication facilities. The increasing importance of CIM means that it must be considered from the very beginning of the design of a new fabrication facility. This paper describes the results of the CIM portion of a Strategic Future Fab Study-or SFFS for short that was sponsored by an international engineering and construction company (Fluor Daniel) and included 23 industry leading companies. The purpose of the SFFS was to design the fab of the future and to challenge the status quo relating to the design, construction, production systems, and operation of wafer fabrication facilities. Through the partnering effort new and novel approaches were developed and defined to achieve more precise manufacturing control, capacity planning, scheduling, improved processing capability, and overall increased productivity