Costing several billion yen per unit, semiconductor exposure equipment is extremely expensive, and even a one-hour interruption in production could result in the loss of millions of yen in potential sales for the device manufacturer. The semiconductor industry is currently working toward the establishment of an EES (Equipment Engineering System) environment that will allow for the creation of a detailed equipment database and the sharing of equipment information, which had been maintained on an individual-manufacturer basis. Canon has participated in this project from the outset and has proposed an EE Support Program conforming to the EES environment with the goal of improving equipment operating efficiency.

Detailed equipment data stored in the EES Database will be distributed to equipment engineers and managers at semiconductor device manufacturers, as well as to the Canon Technical Support Group. Continually monitoring the operational status of equipment installed worldwide and performing analysis linked to the equipment maintenance history and database will make it possible to provide a timely response to reduce equipment downtime. Expectations are also high for an approach to predicting equipment malfunctions based on slight variations in operational status and past case histories, enabling preventive maintenance and replacement before malfunctions occur.

The EE Support Program is currently undergoing joint evaluation by semiconductor device manufacturers with services scheduled to begin in 2007.

How the EE Support Program Works