BOC Edwards Installs Monitoring System at Infineon in Germany

... above tens of thousands of dollars per hour is a challenge that has been successfully met by monitoring and reporting specialists at BOC Edwards.

BOC Edwards, a global supplier of materials, equipment and services to microelectronics manufacturers, has recently completed installation of FabWorks32, a fabwide vacuum and exhaust management monitoring system, at the new 300 mm Infineon chip manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany. FabWorks 16 has been monitoring Infineon’s 200 mm fab for over 6 years, keeping tabs on nearly 1000 vacuum pumps. Equipment parameter status, alerts and other critical information can be monitored from a personal computer, eliminating the need for service engineers to physically inspect each pump on the floor.

When Infineon built their new 300mm facility, BOC Edwards’ FabWorks 32 system was installed. The network can be viewed across the Infineon LAN, allowing LAN users to view the system by accessing the internet browser on a PC. The two networks are now linked, with the ability to monitor nearly 1500 pumps simultaneously. Infineon encourages its suppliers to monitor their equipment remotely via the web (through a secure internet connection). Hence, BOC Edwards is now using this tool to remotely monitor its pump and exhaust management systems at the two Dresden fabs.

“This networking capability means our equipment specialists all over the world can take a more proactive approach to equipment management. And, they are now capable of identifying and solving problems that historically would have called for on-site support,” said Brian Emslie, business development director-process enabling technologies. “This is BOC Edwards’ first remote e-diagnostic installation for vacuum and abatement equipment, and we are excited about the cost savings and improvements in service that we can offer our customer–as well as improved uptime”.