Implementation of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) system at a semiconductor manufacturer

Factory capacity is becoming exceedingly expensive and new factories may not reach designed output levels for at least a couple of years. In the semiconductor industry, required investments in new wafer fabrication facilities may exceed $1 billion. As the cost of semiconductor manufacturing facilities continues to escalate and profit margins get squeezed, semiconductor manufacturers must attempt to increase production capabilities in their existing semiconductor manufacturing facilities (FABs). Assessing the utilization of existing capacity is a key component in this effort. One capacity analysis tool that is currently in use within the RF1 wafer fabrication facility of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS) is the Capacity Utilization Bottleneck Efficiency System (CUBES). RF1 is using CUBES to enhance a very progressive Total Productive Manufacturing (TPM) program. CUBES was gradually introduced to RF1 during the summer of 1995 and became widely accepted during the Fall of 1995 after an interface between CUBES and the work in process (WIP) tracking system, PROMIS/sup TM/, was established. The CUBES decision support tool is generally simple to use, but collecting the input tool performance data may be difficult and time consuming. Since direct users of CUBES range from managers to maintenance technicians to operators, it was imperative to develop a system that linked necessary databases together automatically to calculate capacity and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). This paper discusses the implementation process. To acquaint the reader, we begin with a brief review of the objectives of this project. Following that is a discussion of the components and implementation of this system.