Semiconductor Manufacturing Process
... and then put thru a saw processes. A mechanical saw cuts the wafer into thousands of die. After die are separated, the true Assembly starts. First of all, components called lead frames are attached to the die (using a component called epoxy). Lead frames are the legs that you see on chips that are used to attach the chip to the mother board. Then the connection points on the die are connected to the lead frames by Gold Wire in a Wire Bonding operation. Then the die is packaged in a plastic body (Package/Encapsulate using a component called molding compound). The components to attach lead frames and encapsulate are called Molding Compound and Epoxy. Phase 6: Test After Assembly, the die is put through a burn-in operation - which puts the markings on the chip. Then thru a Final Test. The final test uses different machines, depending on the use of the chip, to test the chip for shock, humidity, head, cold, etc. ====================================================== Companies that just do Phase 1 are called Fabless or Design Houses. Companies that don't do Phase 1, only Phase 3 and 4, are called Foundries. Phase 3 and 4 are called Front End. Phase 5 and 6 are called Back End. Amkor does the Back End. They are a subcontrator, where companies like IBM, Lucent, Motorola, etc, send their probed wafers to be Assembled and Tested. Amkor has locations in 4 sites. Westchester, PA is where Corporate HQ, Finance and IT reside. In Phoenix, they have their Engineering, Design and Prototyping center, as well as Sales, Planning, and some other operations. In Korea they have 4 factories, K1, K2, K3 and K4. In the Philippines, they have 4 factories, P1, P2, P3 and P4. P4 actually resides within P3. Amkor’s Modules Business: ============= Amkor has recently started working on another type of semiconductor manufacturing called Modules. Modules are more like electronic boards/circuit manufacturing. Instead of just assembling the chip and then shipping it to the customer, who then may send it out so that another subcontractor would attach the chip to a mother board, the Modules technology actually soders the die onto the mother board, attaches resistors, capacitors, etc and ships the complete package to the customer. This saves time and cost since no lead frames are used, and fewer subcontractors and smaller lead times. The Modules startup only resides in P4. They have very few customers but are estimating exponential growth. The modules manufacturing process is as follows: Phase 1: Board Assembly (Substrate Assembly) The boards are usually purchased from suppliers who manufacture them according to customer specifications. They could be of various sizes, from 1x1 cm to 4x10 or larger. Using circuit boards as a component, the first step is to use a stencil (metal board with appropriate number of holes based on where the passive components, resistors/capacitors/inductors, are going to be attached) to inject a solder paste onto the boards. The second step is to attach the passive components on the board. The third step is to cure the board (put it in an oven to dry the solder paste). Sometimes the next step is to wash the board. Then there is inspection. Phase 2: Die attach. Each board may contain 1 or more die that is supplied by the customer. In this phase, the customer wafers are received, sometimes backgrinded, sometimes probed, then sawed. A pick and place machine then takes the necessary die and attach them to the circuit boards using epoxy. Then it is cured (heated in an oven). Then the die is wirebonded. Then there is a process to attach solder balls to the back of the circuit board (which the customer will eventually use to solder the board/module onto the final mother board). Then the board is encapsulated using molding compound. Sometimes the whole board is covered with the black plastic, and sometimes, only part of it. Phase 3: Test This phase is usually done using special equipment supplied by the customer. ================================================================= Amkor has selected Oracle Applications. There will be two projects. The Modules project is get P4 up and running on Oracle in 3-4 months, using as much standard as possible, no conversions, very few interfaces, except for interfacing Oracle Manufacturing (OSFM) to their MES system (Camstar Mesa). Modules has not systems, processes or data. In May or June, the old division (Amkor calls it Semi), which is more complex (in terms of conversions, interfaces to legacy systems,) will start implementation (on the same instance as Modules) This project will last at least one year. The Modules team will rollover to Semi in July. =========================================================== Amkor has selected Triniti to do their integration between Camstar Mesa (MES system Philippines) and LTS (MES System Korea). Triniti also will have the lead role in PO, OE, Planning, BOM/WIP, and Inventory. KPMG will do Program Mangement, and will assist with the Oracle Applications. KPMG also has multiple other Business Process Improvement projects, B2B, etc. for Amkor. The biggest risk of the project is to get the interfaces for Modules P4 done in 3 months. The Triniti team for Phase One (Modules) will be: Amkor Modules Project ------------------------------ Issa Elkhoury - Order Entry, Assist in others, Assist in interfaces to MES system. LeeSan Yong - PO, Assist in Finance and INV (materials management) Dale Peterson - Planning, Assist in BOM/WIP/INV Srinath Alamela - Assistance as needed to implementation team and interface team Makrand Dekhane – Design and build Oracle/Mesa interfaces Krishna Shankaranarayanan - Design and build Oracle/Mesa Interfaces Jeff Slosar – Assistance as needed For Phase Two (Semi - Total ERP) - The team will increase. ===================================================================== OSFM: You should be getting a copy of the OSFM (Oracle Shop Floor Manufacturing) handout to get yourself update. Amkor thinks that Triniti knows OSFM. OSFM was created as a consortium between 3 semiconductor customers for Oracle, mainly Lucent. Most of the designs and develo...