Wonderware, a business unit of Invensys Systems, Inc., today announced that SEMATECH plans to implement the ArchestrA application platform as part of its e-manufacturing program. SEMATECH is implementing the ArchestrA application platform through its International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) subsidiary, a global consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers. Wonderware products are sold and supported in the UK and Ireland by Stockport based Pantek Limited.
Based in Austin, Tex., ISMI has spearheaded industry adoption of Interface A and will use the ArchestrA application platform in its prototyping lab to help process and metrology equipment suppliers test tool-side implementations of the new suite of SEMI EDA (Equipment Data Acquisition) standards related to Interface A.
The ArchestrA technology provides ISMI member companies and the industry with an open development architecture that has both the agility and scalability needed to effectively implement Interface A for advanced process control (APC) and equipment engineering systems (EES) environments. The new Interface A standard is an essential component in the semiconductor industry's growing use of equipment and process data to maintain the productivity improvement rates forecast by Moore's Law.
The inclusion of the ArchestrA application platform will enable ISMI to provide the latest application platform to test beta versions of integration technology and applications that use the Interface A standards.
"Now that the Interface A suite of SEMI standards has passed the balloting process, ISMI's e-manufacturing objectives will emphasize the industry's implementation and production use of this important technology," said Brad van Eck, ISMI's factory productivity program manager. "Our emphasis is now turning to focus on evaluating Interface A implementations. We are pleased to see a commercially available implementation for 'the other end of the Interface A wire' for testing the OEMs' implementations of the standard."
The implementation of Interface A for the ArchestrA application platform was done in collaboration with software products supplied by Cimetrix Inc. Alan Weber & Associates will supply the systems integration services for the ISMI installation. Alan Weber & Associates is a long-time participant in the commercial semiconductor APC market, and maintains an active role in the SEMI standards development process.
"The Interface A implementation completes the semiconductor connectivity picture for the ArchestrA application platform," said Alan Weber, president of Alan Weber & Associates, a consulting company specializing in semiconductor APC, EES and related manufacturing systems technologies. "This capability coupled with Wonderware's leading software products -- real-time database, visualization, data analysis applications and integrated development tools -- make the ArchestrA application platform an ideal choice for EES and APC application development."
The ArchestrA application platform is a complete development, integration, deployment, execution and support environment for mission-critical manufacturing applications. It provides a wide range of connectivity options for industry-specific data sources and complementary systems. Also included are data processing, storage and management features to ensure high data quality and universal, secure access for all users of the system. Moreover, it supports both custom in-house development and third-party package integration, allowing semiconductor IT organizations to make effective buy vs. build decisions for each individual application
"The ArchestrA application platform is the ideal platform to support the semiconductor industry's goal of expanding APC in the manufacturing process," said Kevin Tock, Wonderware vice president of advanced applications and alliances. "The ArchestrA technology provides the agility, scalability and reliability to integrate existing APC applications and scale them to a fab-level solution. As the host system for ISMI's Interface A validation facility, it provides the standard communication link to process tools, an integrated real-time database, integrated development tools and built-in monitoring and analysis applications. ISMI stakeholders will be able to effectively test new Interface A technology applications for enhancing the productivity of their manufacturing operations."
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