In this issue we have a quick announcement about recent and upcoming Fab Owners Association events, as well as an announcement about our latest software release. Our software tip of the month is about understanding the different types of cycle time reported in the software. We have no subscriber discussion this month.
In our main article this month we discuss some computational issues that have arisen as we have worked with several of our customers to implement cluster tool OEE. We share our approaches to dealing with these very nuts-and-bolts issues, and hope that this article will be useful to those of you working on cluster tool OEE.
In this issue we have a community announcement about the next Fab Owners Association meeting. Our software tip of the month is about navigating the different “Go” buttons within the FabTime user interface. We have no subscriber discussion this month (though we would certainly welcome your questions or suggested discussion topics for the next issue). In our main article, we provide some specific answers to the question: how do I identify the sources of arrival variability to a particular toolgroup?
In this issue, we have a call for papers for ISMI 2015, to be held in South Korea in October. Our software tip of the month is about using the new chart gridlines feature in FabTime. Apparently many people are on vacation (or otherwise engaged) because we have no subscriber discussion topics in this issue. Perhaps our main article will prompt some discussion going forward.
In our main article, we discuss the motivational aspects of goal-setting for wafer fabs. We investigate in particular the concept of SMART goals, a methodology that has been applied to a variety of industries. We apply the SMART methodology to wafer fabs, identifying what we believe to be the core motivational issue in goal-setting for fabs. We also discuss other potential pitfalls.
In this issue we have a call for papers for a joint symposium between eMDC2015 and ISSM2015. Our FabTime software tip of the month is about identifying the tool that experienced the most time waiting for parts. In our subscriber discussion forum we have one response to the previous newsletter main article, and two responses to a subscriber discussion topic about balancing cost and on-time delivery.
In our main article, we take a more short-term look at balancing cost and cycle time in wafer fabs. We start by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of several possible approaches, and then focusing on how one might use actual historical data to help balance cost and cycle time at a tactical level. We welcome additional feedback on this complex and mission-critical topic.
In this issue we are pleased to announce the 16 year anniversary of FabTime, which we are celebrating by kicking off our 40th software installation. We also have an announcement from the Fab Owners Association about a new Packaging and Test group within the FOA. Our software tip of the month is about re-setting the default sort order for a chart. We also have a new subscriber discussion topic about balancing competing priorities of cost vs. on-time delivery in fabs.
In our main article this month we discuss the use of WIP Turns to generate forward estimates of fab cycle time. We discuss the benefits of this information, as well as related computational issues.
Our one announcement this issue is about the conversion of the text email newsletter to an html format. Our FabTime software tip of the month concerns setting default filters for FabTime charts.
We have two subscriber responses to a topic raised in the last issue: setting goals for fab cycle time and on-time delivery improvement. We thought that these responses were so useful that we have shared them and expanded upon them as our main article. We derive a brief framework for setting fab management goals at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels, with special attention to the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” that can arise between shifts. As always, we welcome your feedback. We would be more than happy to continue this topic going forward, as we believe it has relevance to a large portion of our subscribers.
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