Enhancing flexibility and robustness of semiconductor production by using autonomous modular services

Increasing market requirements pose major challenges for semiconductor manufacturers. One major reason for this effect is for instance an increasing individualization of customer requirements, especially regarding the provision of more and more different functions on a single chip. A typical mature multi-product semiconductor manufacturer, which is on the "More than Moore" path within the logic business, produces several hundred different products in one fabrication facility, whereas the predictability of the production volumes per single product type decreases. Furthermore, the decreasing product life cycles lead to the necessity to continually introduce new products into the running production system [1].