Process tool testing and readiness
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 6/1/1999
A s of late March 1999, slightly less than two-thirds of the semiconductor industry's process tools were year 2000 ready (Fig. 1). Obviously, the industry is fully engaged in preparing its process tools for Y2K and is shifting its attention to process tool solution implementation and preparation of integrated manufacturing systems, facilities systems and safety systems.
For months, so-called experts have said that those who had not already
started getting ready for the new
millennium do not have a prayer of being ready. In some cases, they might be
right. But, those who have not started should not give up; rather, they
should start today. A lot can be accomplished by building on the work
that has already been done.
The industry has been seriously engaged in getting its products and businesses ready for the event for months now. Resources are in place, and spending is up. Gartner Group research 1 indicates that information technology and software organizations spent ~5% of their budgets on year 2000 preparedness in 1997. In 1998, ~30% was spent, and in 1999 ~45% will be spent. To call this a major financial commitment is a huge understatement, especially in such a soft marketplace.
Ray Bender of the Gartner Group was the keynote speaker at a Y2K conference, hosted by the Technical Business Network, in Austin, Texas, late in 1997. Bender said that year 2000 preparations will rival World War II as the costliest single endeavor of this century. The cost estimates for the United States alone run from $300 to $600 billion and between $1 and $3 trillion for the world, according to Gartner Group research.
It is remarkable to ponder that not being ready for year 2000 could cost even more. Simple logic says that must be the case, or else we would not spend so much to get ready.
Process tool testing and readiness
The semiconductor industry is assigning significant resources to
assuring business continuation into the next millennium. To date, the
number of processing tools that are ready for year 2000 has more than
doubled since November 1998. The members of SEMATECH and International
SEMATECH have agreed upon a set of 29 tests that provide a reasonable
approach to tool readiness verification. 
The testing process itself is straightforward but time-consuming and labor intensive. Tests performed on a relatively simple metrology tool at SEMATECH's Advanced Tool Development Facility (ATDF) required the efforts of two maintenance technicians for one hour and 35 min.
Assuming this procedure to be typical, one "average" process tool might require about four staff hours to test one time. Assigning this much effort to the ~75,000 tools in U.S. fabs would cost at least $15 million! In addition, as a practical matter, each tool will probably be tested more than once. Some should be tested four times, or more.
The 29 tests being done essentially test 12 dates. The tests focus on six dates of primary concern and six of secondary concern (Table 1).
| Table 1 Dates to Test for Y2K Preparadness | |
| Date of Primaray Concern | Dates of Secondary Concern |
| Dec. 31, 1999 to Jan. 1, 2000 (century change) | Jan. 10, 2000 (first date requiring seven positions to represent) |
| Feb. 28-29, 2000 (leap day) | Oct. 10, 2000 (first date requiring eight positions to represent) |
| Feb. 29, 2000 to March 1, 2000 (leap day + 1) | Jan. 1, 2011 (Some applications/products will fail due to the method used to resolve Year 2000 issues; 10 assumed to be in 20th century.) |
| Dec. 31, 2000 to Jan 1, 2001 | Jan. 1, 2030 (Some applications/products will fail due to the method used to resolve Year 2000 issues; 29 assumed to be in 20th century.) |
| Sept. 8-9, 1999 (9999 is a typical end of record marker.) | Jan 19, 2038 (Some applications/products will fail due to overflow of the integer used to store the date.) |
SEMATECH's Year 2000 Tool Database is tracking readiness for 7700 process tools. That database indicates that only ~62% (~4800) of the total tool types in use in fabs are ready now (Fig. 1). It is quite possible that many more "Y2K bug fixes" are nearly ready and that more process tools are either ready or near-ready than reflected in the SEMATECH database. It seems that a number of suppliers are not communicating that fact, at least not openly. This must change. Businesses can protect themselves by conscientiously communicating their year 2000 conditions.
Why communication is critical
In an attempt to help the industry get ready, SEMATECH and SEMI/ SEMATECH have held Year 2000 Readiness Workshops on both the west and east coasts of the United States. About 130 supplier representatives attended the two west coast workshops, and ~45 attended the east coast workshop. The importance of readiness communication took up a considerable amount of the discussion. SEMI/ SEMATECH's position has been and continues to be that open, frequent communication about this problem is essential. SEMI/SEMATECH's Board of Directors firmly established its position concerning open communication by voting to make SEMI/SEMATECH's Year 2000 Readiness Guideline publicly available immediately after its completion in June 1998.
The foundation for this position of open, proactive communication can be found in the Year 2000 Readiness Guideline itself. The Guideline's Legal Section is clear about the need for suppliers to perform due diligence in preparing their products for the year 2000. The Guideline also advises that clear, frequent communication concerning product and business readiness is an essential component of due diligence. SEMI/SEMATECH's Year 2000 Readiness Guideline clearly points out that Y2K issues should be communicated throughout the entire spectrum of an enterprise, covering both internal and external stakeholders (Fig. 2).
Publicly held companies need to be aware that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws apply to disclosure about the year 2000 issue. The SEC further states that full and fair disclosure includes as a minimum:
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| Fig. 1. |
- The company's state of readiness.
- Costs to address the company's year 2000 issues.
- Risks associated with the company's year 2000 issues.
- The company's contingency plans.
The federal government is trying to help enable more proactive communication of year 2000 conditioning by limiting liability for doing so. On Oct. 19, 1998, the "Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act," bill S.2392, was passed into law. This act is intended to encourage disclosure and exchange of information about computer processing problems, solutions, test practices and results and related matters in connection with the transition to the year 2000.
The language of the bill states in part, "No year 2000 readiness disclosure, in whole or in part, shall be admissible against the maker of that disclosure to prove the accuracy or truth of any year 2000 statement set forth in that disclosure, in any covered action brought by another party..."2 There are certain exceptions, such as false statements and defamation. Essentially, truthful communication of year 2000 issues is protected under this law.
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| Fig. 2. |
To determine how SEMI/SEMATECH members are doing relative to public disclosure about Y2K issues, SEMI/SEMATECH surveyed the members' web sites for Y2K information. As of this writing, only 36% of the members had Y2K information on their web sites (Fig. 3). The internet must be used more effectively as a medium for readiness communication. Bill S.2392 specifically refers to internet communication and cites that communication medium in the bill's language.
At the Year 2000 Readiness Workshops, SEMI/SEMATECH members provided input about how SEMI/ SEMATECH could help lighten their communication burden. SEMI/ SEMATECH and SEMATECH are collaborating to implement the following in support of member companies' Y2K communication efforts. Providing these capabilities for industry-wide communications can enhance the industry's readiness programs and substantially reduce the cost of Y2K preparations:
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Direct internet links to supplier Y2K data and web pages from the
SEMI/SEMATECH web site;
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Construction and maintenance of an industry reference tool readiness
database;
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E-mail lists to facilitate Y2K communications among suppliers and IC
manufacturers;
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Establishment of a SEMI/SEMATECH Software Council to help organize
SEMI/SEMATECH member responses to customers;
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Collection, characterization and communication of general Y2K failure
data;
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Development and deployment of a standard test report document set;
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Y2K test kit that automates the first 10 SEMATECH tests and allows the
user to test viability of a date roll-back workaround (tentative);
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Development and deployment of a Y2K web site template for suppliers to
help "jump-start" implementation of Y2K web sites by all tool
suppliers. The template would include a tool readiness matrix, a
roll-out plan and schedule, a business continuation plan, an SEC
statement and a general compliance statement;
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A listing of tools that the suppliers will discontinue due to Y2K;
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Communication of which fabs will be operating during the millennium
roll-over and which will be shut down, if any;
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Communication of suppliers that will require use of interim software
upgrades, schedules for those upgrades and associated budget
considerations;
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Industry-wide implementation scheduling coordination (tentative);
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Communication of safety and security preparations and best practices
and
- Forums for resolving conflicts between manufacturer implementation schedules and supplier Y2K roll-out capabilities.
Summary
The solution to a company's Y2K concerns requires a lot of straightforward work and communication. Please keep the following in mind when implementing a solution:
- Take the Year 2000 issue very seriously, but do not panic;
- Provide executive-level support for your program;
- Establish, document and implement your programs;
- Do not rely on your insurance or a "silver bullet" to save you;
- Prepare to ruthlessly redirect resources to Year 2000 remediation;
- Give yourself plenty of time to test your systems;
- If you are just beginning to implement your program, recognize that your implementation budget could be underestimated by as much as 4X;
- If you are going to charge your customers for solutions, communicate your charges to them as soon as possible to help them establish budgets;
- Become familiar with the "Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act," and rigorously follow the communications guidelines in that law;
- Establish an internet site to provide information to customers and other stakeholders;
- Prepare to work well beyond January 2000, cleaning up the debris of this event;
- Do not sue anybody as that just fills the bank accounts of lawyers and does not fix the problem and
- Communicate, communicate, communicate.
References
1. E. F. Moltzen, "Gartner Chief: Y2K Spending Almost Half of IT Budgets by '99," Computer Reseller News, October 1998.
2. "Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act," S. 2392, 105th Congress, Sec. 4(a).
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Rick Scott, P.E., has more than 25 years of experience in high-tech manufacturing. He has worked for a number of high-tech companies both as an employee and as the principal of his own contract engineering company. He is director of software programs with SEMI/ SEMATECH. Before joining SEMI/SEMATECH, he spent six years as a manager in SEMATECH's Factory Integration division. |
