Semiconductor manufacturing cleanroom with staff in protective clothing

Facility Monitoring Makes Sense

Many companies choose to install facility monitoring systems to monitor particle counts and environmental parameters as it makes great business sense, There are many advantages: 
  • Reduced waste
  • Improved yield
  • Improved quality
  • Increased profits
Some overlook the advantages of a monitoring system, business benefits are not fully appreciated especially as initial capital and ongoing maintenance costs seem expensive. The mountains of data that may require analysis appears daunting, as do time consuming root cause investigations into alert and action level excursions. Plus, the maintenance, calibration and validation overheads involved.

Why would you install a monitoring system?
Answer: Risk reduction, and it makes great business sense.

A facility monitoring system improves probability of hazard detection, leading to a reduction in risk. Product quality is impacted if too many airborne particles find their way into the critical manufacturing process. Only when deploying and correctly positioning monitoring probes to frequently collect data, is there a chance of detecting particles. If there are no particle monitoring probes installed close to critical processing locations, the probability of detecting particles entering the process is zero.

Turning critical data into information is key—real-time data presentation, reports, and alarm notifications. This results in increased knowledge and a better understanding of the manufacturing process. Increased knowledge leads to recognizing when the process is drifting out of control before it’s too late. This means less product waste and proactive quality assurance.

Monitoring Makes Great Business Sense

Today, monitoring systems are already being used to support energy saving initiatives. There are significant energy savings to be made when setting back air change rates and air velocities - being safe in the knowledge that environmental conditions have not been compromised.

Continuous particle monitoring in a facility means the exact time of a particle excursion is known and immediately notified to end users. This supports timely root cause investigations and minimizes how much of the product is impacted - saving a significant amount of money.

Smart factories have fully interoperable systems where data is seamlessly exchanged between multiple platforms. Facility monitoring system data and information sharing is important as it aids decision making. For example, machine learning can predict that an unwanted contamination event is likely, enabling proactive steps to be taken to positively impact yield and significantly save on manufacturing costs.
 

An Everyday Example

Think of a facility monitoring system like a home refrigerator or freezer. They efficiently monitor their internal temperature to ensure preservation of items stored inside.
 
Food stored at an incorrect temperature is potentially dangerous to human health. It is likely to perish and will need to be thrown away. Food that is supposed to simply be kept cool might get frozen, becoming inedible and go to waste. Energy is wasted.
 
Continuously monitoring the internal temperature of a refrigerator or freezer reduces the risk of food spoiling and protects people from getting food poisoning. Efficient temperature monitoring saves energy, maintains food quality and reduces waste while saving money.
 
In the same way, it makes sense to continuously monitor the environment surrounding a manufacturing process when it’s critical to product quality.
 

Learn More About our Facility Monitoring System - Click Here.
 

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