Metrology: Where's the Added Value? March 27, 2008
Below is the first of what I hope will be innumerable postings. Just so you’ll know what to expect, I plan to focus and comment on metrology issues and developments in the fields of inspection, measurement, test, and standards. Unless you are a metrologist, actually working to produce these measurement tools or standards, the all-pervading effect that metrology has across industries and professions, such as nanotechnology, engineering, semiconductor processing, materials, and everywhere across our global industry is extremely difficult to factor. I shall try to do that here, as well as occasionally growl, grumble, and comment on other matters and subjects that may innocently and foolishly meander too close to my gunsights.
I hope that we’ll get to know each other better, and that when you have a comment you won’t hesitate to post it.
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On September 19, 1783, Benjamin Franklin, as American ambassador at the French court, witnessed the Montgolfier brothers, two French balloonists, send up their Aerostat Réveillon with the first living creatures to fly on a manmade device — a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. Before a huge crowd, the balloon rose from Versailles watched by King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette. After an eight-minute flight at an altitude of about 1,600 feet, the garishly decorated craft made a relatively soft landing some two miles away. When asked afterward what good was this ridiculous new toy, the Founding Father replied, "What good is a newborn baby?"
Much the same comment might be made about metrology.
Although by no means a newborn baby (the ancient Egyptians had standardized measurements) metrology — with all its inspection, measurement, test, and standards variants — traditionally has not been viewed as being much of a value-added proposition; after all, its tools and platforms are expensive, often difficult to operate, and add to the result of the All-Holy, All-Mighty Time-to-Market equation. A heresy practically impossible to justify to management.
This should no longer be the case, thanks to a seminal study, “The Economic Impact of Measurement in the Semiconductor Industry,” by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Senior Economist Gregory Tassey. This 200-page study is the first ever to provide comprehensive estimates of the measurement infrastructure’s value to the semiconductor industry’s high-tech supply chain. The results show that while the industry does invest considerable amounts in metrology-related matters, the benefits are substantial.
According to Tassey, there is a ubiquitous character to metrology. “You have measurements, JETA standards that affect the R&D capability of high-tech industries. There are diversified sets of measurements and standards necessary to control a production process for yield and quality, and when you get into the marketplace you have a very sophisticated product with technical performance attributes associated with it. The customer wants assurance that it will function as specified. This requires yet another set of measurements and standards for acceptance testing, performance verification, and so on.”
Tassey thinks that one of the reasons why it is difficult for an industry to look at measurement and its technologies in a purely business sense is that it tends to be invisible and to be everywhere. “Metrology and its infratechnologies are widely distributed across the entire industry. Most of the time this is not understood and management doesn’t invest in it sufficiently,” said Tassey, adding that this, in turn, can slow market growth. “If buyers are uncertain about a new technology’s performance characteristics, they’ll stick with the old one, delaying market penetration, which is not good for the industry and certainly not good for the economy as a whole. This is a reason why metrology tends not to be viewed like other investments.”
While there is considerable metrology interaction between technical people, government and industry organizations such as NIST, Semi, and Sematech, it is often difficult to get the attention of middle and higher level management. By defining the bottom line impact of metrology, such as reduction in scrap and need for rework, the study presents the true results of metrology in a strict financial, economic framework that should appeal to management.
Source: NIST
For the benefits component of the analysis, the focus was on cost
savings resulting from measurement improvements, the primary
productivity and efficiency measures in the industry including
throughput, yield, scrap, bin sort, and process iterations.
The study’s scope covered firms such as basic and applied R&D organizations, equipment and software suppliers, IC designers, chemicals and materials suppliers, as well as FEOL and BEOL processing facilities. The categories of metrology included traditional measurement science, and measurement-intensive areas such as product design tools, software standards and interoperability, calibration and standard test methods, ex-situ and in-situ process control techniques, as well as quality assurance. The impact metrics investigated included throughput, yield, scrap, bin sort, and the number of necessary process iterations. Participants described significant cost savings in terms of improved yields and throughput.
The focus was on the decade from 1996 to 2006. The data obtained was used to estimate conservative economic benefits for the period, plus an extrapolation of benefits expected to accrue through 2011. The total quantified economic benefits over the 1996 to 2011 period added to $51.3 billion. This was combined with the corresponding 1996 to 2006 cost estimates to calculate the net economic benefits between 1997 and 2011. The results were, to say the least, startling:
• Net economic benefits: $39 billion.
• Benefit cost ratio: 3.3.
• Internal rate of return: 67%.
March 31, 2008 In response to:Metrology: Where's the Added Value? Jay Stern commented:
Interesting stuff. I know a couple of middle level managers who could use this.
April 24, 2008 In response to:Metrology: Where's the Added Value? Andrei Brunfeld, Xyratex commented:
I have been in the disk/wafer/nano metrology business for some time (about 15 years) and keep being amazed by the omnipresent question of “what is your value proposition?” After all, inspection removes items from the line…I am not going to comment on this one, but I am grateful for your blog: at the very least I can refer to an “objective” person…
May 21, 2008 In response to:Metrology: Where's the Added Value? Mark Medonis commented:
Actually, I believe that the "What use is a newborn baby?" quote is from Michael Faraday. He was responding to Queen Victoria, who after touring his lab asked what use he intended his devices. Which makes it an even more relevant quote to your article, I think! Without support of his experiments in electrolysis, electromagnetism, and electrostatics where would we be?
