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Resilience of Chip Manufacturing Facilities
During COVID-19 Rooted in SEMI Standards
Focusing in on how the microelectronics industry has proved
capable of proceeding apace
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
SEMI today highlighted the
role of industry standards and
emerging developments around
cybersecurity at the annual West
Views Media Conference at
SEMICON West 2020.
Broad adoption of uniform
SEMI standards is providing
the foundation for factory automation and is making it possible
for thousands of tech staff to
keep working through shutdowns – and whatever happens
next – should another pandemic
hit. James Amano, senior director of
International Standards for SEMI,
shared lessons gleaned during the
pandemic and announced candidate
standards proposed for approval and
release in the coming months.
“The pandemic has put a spotlight
on the fact that a lot of chipmaker
suppliers can use tablets and virtual
reality headsets or goggles to do
work that once required traveling
engineers,” Amano said. “Thanks
to SEMI and committees comprised
of more than 5,000 Standards volunteers, there is no hodgepodge of
differing remote connectivity solutions across different platforms, nor
the accompanying accidental cybersecurity threats.”
Amano indicated that invaluable
preparation has become readily
apparent during the past few months,
when fab operations hummed along
despite COVID-19. For example, between February and April 2020, the
use of software for remote diagnosis
and management of semiconductor
manufacturing tools by semiconductor suppliers more than doubled,
and usage remained at record-high
levels in May and June. He said that
with the groundwork established by
standards, a lot of technicians have
continued to handle vital diagnostics
and control, but from home.
Dave Anderson, SEMI Americas
president and host organizer for
SEMICON West, noted the opportunity to share learning on standards
between industries.
“Automobiles now contain hundreds of microchips, so carmakers
are big proponents and users of
industry standards,” Anderson
observed. “The global auto industry
can teach other businesses new
lessons about how standards can
strengthen and advance industries.
And at the same time, the auto industry can learn more about machine
interface and data communications
standards from the semiconductor
industry.”
Meanwhile, chipmakers welcome
technology that limits people within
their cleanrooms.
“You want to minimize how often
people come close to wafers, much
less touch them – especially at leading-edge fabs where semiconductor
recipe changes can occur every few
months,” Anderson said.
Anderson also predicts the
COVID-19 crisis will accelerate
widespread interest in standards.
What’s next for cybersecurity and
standards
• Among takeaways surfaced
during the pandemic is the need
for accelerated development of
standards with ever-more comprehensive cybersecurity specifications. In an increasingly
competitive world, such standards
will help to sustain uninterrupted
10 | Wednesday, July 22www.semiconductordigest.com
