BDaily News – Optimisation technology company secures £15m Series A investment to boost semiconductor industry

Insightful experiments expose the weakness of limiting the number of recipes enabled on a tool. The key findings are that this limitation can lead to an increase in fab cycle times by more than 40 percent.

The scarcity and fragility of reticles presents fab operators with a tradeoff that we have assessed by investigating three case studies where Flexciton's intelligent scheduler has been used to explore the different outcomes.

Batch tools are purposefully built to process two or more lots in parallel. However, due to the complexity and volatility of the wafer fabrication environment, each day wafer fabs are challenged to make complicated batching decisions.

The tools used in a fabrication process are extremely sophisticated; requiring an extensive preventive maintenance regime to ensure reliable production. A big challenge faced by fab managers is getting in place optimal scheduling of preventative maintenance whilst still meeting their production KPIs.

In the challenge of digitising semiconductor wafer fabs, Flexciton aspires to play a pivotal role in cultivating highly skilled operators and managers—individuals who are empowered by our technology rather than being replaced by it. Learn more about our customer-centric approach in this blog from Valentina.

As next-gen designs become increasingly sophisticated, a more holistic and streamlined approach to the manufacturing process is vital.

Being able to control and maximise throughput is critically important to the health and profitability of a semiconductor business. If the factory in question is capacity constrained, then any percentage increase to total fab throughput can be converted into further revenue for the business.

Reviewing technology literature is a common practice when developing a new approach to solving an existing problem. James Adamson, a Senior Optimization Engineer at Flexciton, has recently reviewed several technical papers on photolithography scheduling, one of which he found particularly interesting.

This week, Daniel Cifuentes Daza, one of the Optimization Engineers here at Flexciton, explores the problem of reticle allocation in the photo area by reviewing a technical paper by Benzoni, A. et. al

Any manageable system is limited by at least one constraint. So, what happens if the system in question is the most complex manufacturing process in existence?

Introducing Will, Lead Backend Engineer at Flexciton. Explore his daily tasks, ranging from crafting backend architecture to overseeing the codebase and managing technical debt in this month's edition of The Flex Factor.

Because of bottlenecked toolsets, wafers will spend a great proportion of their cycle time queuing rather than processing. The longer or more uncertain the wait time, the higher risk of variability in the cycle time. This ultimately impacts the overall productivity of a fab.

The semiconductor industry is set to receive $1tn in investment over the next six years, driven by AI and advanced technologies, with over 100 new wafer fabs expected. However, labor shortages continue to pose a challenge, pushing the need for autonomous wafer fabs to ensure continued growth.

In this month’s edition of The Flex Factor, we introduce one of our QA Engineers: Yichen Tian. Have a read to find out what this serial multitasker does during her day-to-day.

Say hello to Sudesh Lutchman; senior back end engineer, delivery manager for the Taiichi team here at Flexciton and aspiring jet pilot.

Introducing Seb Steele; self-proclaimed 'colossal nerd', John Boyd super fan and all-round product person.

Say hello to Jamie, one of Flexciton's frontend developers. From watering his cactus to perfecting the user experience of our application, find out what he does during his day-to-day in this month's edition of The Flex Factor.

Meet Sully, the Bucket Brigade team's backend wizard, as he shines in the spotlight for July's edition of The Flex Factor. Discover more about the diverse challenges he tackles during his day-to-day and the valuable career advice he wishes he had known earlier.

Please give a warm welcome to Jannik, our next team member to sit in the hot seat. In this edition of The Flex Factor, find out how Jannik juggles being both an optimization engineer and customer lead, as well as what get's him excited in the world of tech.

Meet Nitin, our Senior DevOps engineer and security guru. Keep reading to learn a bit more about him and what it's like work in DevOps at Flexciton.

Meet Lio, a driving force behind client success as Flexciton's Technical Customer Lead. Discover more about her keen eye for collaboration and passion for innovation in this edition of The Flex Factor.

This month on The Flex Factor, we get to know our Senior People & Talent Partner, Charlotte Conway! Find out a little more about her and how she creates a supportive environment that helps our whole team to thrive.

Meet James Adamson, one of our senior optimization engineers here at Flexciton. Many, many moons ago he was an aspirant farmer, now he’s designing and improving our scheduling algorithms.

Join Felipe as he shares his typical day at Flexciton, highlights the most rewarding aspects of his role and offers valuable career advice in this month’s edition of The Flex Factor.

Building and maintaining any form of scheduling solution to be flexible yet robust is not an easy undertaking. Commonly, fab managers have resorted to rule-based dispatch systems or other discrete-event simulation software that asks a simple question: do I care more about getting wafers out the door, or reducing the cycle time of those wafers?

On this month's edition of The Flex Factor, we're introducing Amar. Solutions engineer by day and the front man of Flexciton's band by night, find out a bit more about him and what he does for the team.

From guaranteed KPI improvements to reducing fab workload by 50%, this blog introduces some of the benefits of Autonomous Scheduling Technology (AST) and how it contrasts with the scheduling status quo.

The problem with complex systems is that there’s so much variability and interaction, it's hard to get actionable insights from data. In Part 1 of this blog, Ben Van Damme explains that instead of accepting the complex nature of a fab, factories can control it using advanced scheduling.

Ray Cooke delves into the pivotal considerations surrounding cloud adoption in the context of wafer fabrication. For those reading sceptically, uncertain about the merits of cloud integration, or perhaps prompted by concerns about lagging behind competitors—this blog endeavours to shed light on key areas of relevance.

In a highly complex wafer fabrication environment, even the most advanced fabs struggle with scheduling time constraints. Begun Efeoglu Sanli, one of our Optimization Engineers, reviews a recently published technical paper on this particular subject.

In Part 2 of this blog, Ben Van Damme delves further into the potential of advanced optimization-based scheduling for wafer fabs in the not too distant future.

This article focuses on innovations in scheduling: algorithms which assign lots to machines, decide in which order they should run, and ensure any required secondary resources are available.

The semiconductor industry worries that it won’t have enough workers to run its new fabs. But there’s a labour problem right now at legacy facilities. Could disruptive technologies help to solve this problem?

To cloud, or not cloud, that is the question. As other industries make the leap towards cloud technology, uptake with chipmakers continues to lag behind. In this article, Laurence explores the potential benefits of cloud adoption to equip Fab Managers with the motivation to reconsider the question.

Change management is just as important as new technology in a successful implementation. Jamie Potter has his say on what he thinks service providers can do differently to help fabs adopt new technologies.

Timelinks are one of the most challenging aspects of a wafer fab to navigate and significantly increase the complexity of scheduling it. We take a dive into a case study that shows how optimization can be used to manage timelinks to alleviate pressure on bottleneck tools.

Manufacturing equipment makers are under pressure to meet new fabs’ demands, with a serious knock-on effect for legacy chip makers. But can they increase capacity without increasing their number of tools?

In our second case study, we consider a more complex problem where a trade-off must be made between the cycle time of high priority lots and violating certain timelinks.

Jamie shares his thoughts on the UK’s £1bn semiconductor strategy, why he thinks there's untapped potential with disruptive technology, and how the UK’s abundant talent pool could be the key for our growth in the global industry.

The big theme at this year’s SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) conference was ‘How does Europe fulfil its ambition by 2030’. Jamie Potter shares his thoughts on the steps being taken to achieve its ambitious goal.

With industries around the world still being hit by semiconductor shortages, chip companies need to embrace smart manufacturing practices to boost production. In this blog, we talk about what those practices are and how to accelerate their adoption.

The semiconductor industry is at the cutting edge of technology – so why is it still so nervous about the cloud? Persisting with an outmoded security model means missing out on significant gains in manufacturing.

The semiconductor industry needs to become more sustainable in a world of increasing demand – optimization holds the key.

In this blog, Dominic Bealby-Wright, one of our optimization engineers, takes a look Goodhart's Law and its relation to load port utilisation on tools in the photolithography area.

Chipmakers will encounter major challenges before the end of the decade in their quest to achieve stringent emissions goals. In light of this, we are working on an initiative to explore innovative approaches for reducing the carbon impact of the semiconductor sector.

Timelinks are one of the most challenging scheduling problems found in a wafer fab and were causing a particular problem for Renesas Electronics' US fab. After seeing the potential performance gains with our software trial, they decided to go ahead with full implementation.

Scheduling a wafer fab to run optimally is one of the most challenging mathematical problems that exists in modern-day manufacturing. Why?

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has invested in Flexciton and Seagate Technology's production planning project to help improve UK semiconductor manufacturing.

AI has unquestionably stood out as the prevailing technological theme of the year. This wave of innovation begs the question: how can the semiconductor industry, which stands at the heart of technological progress, leverage AI to navigate its own intricate challenges?

What will the future of wafer fabrication look like? With innovative AI-driven technologies paving the way for significant improvements in efficiency, quality and on-time delivery whilst also driving down costs – chip manufacturers need to be paying close attention.

Decision-making in wafer fabs is a two-level problem. On one hand, fab-wide scheduling is tasked with the strategic management of factory assets. On the other hand, toolset-level scheduling focuses on the operation of individual work centres.

The European Commission has set out an ambitious plan to double the EU’s share of the semiconductor market to 20% by 2030. But is increasing production capacity the way forward? In this blog, we look at where they should and shouldn’t be spending their money to achieve this aim.

Since its inception, Flexciton has received over £21m in funding, with its recent Series A round raising a total of £15m. The Series A investment will be used for hiring across different areas of the team.

Jamie Potter, CEO & Co-founder of Flexciton and Tina O'Donnell, Systems Engineering Manager from Seagate discussed advanced scheduling technology and its impact on wafer fab production performance.

This year, Flexciton will be returning to Munich, Germany for SEMICON Europa and the 2022 Fab Management Forum and we're thrilled to announce that we'll be silver sponsors of the event!

The past 12 months have been intensely positive, bringing new exciting projects and allowing the company to accelerate its growth. We took this opportunity and asked Flexciton's cofounders to reflect on their journey.

This two-part article aims to explain how we can improve cycle time in front-end semiconductor manufacturing through innovative solutions. In part 1, we discuss the importance of cycle time for manufacturers and introduce the operating curve to relate cycle time to factory utilization.

In part 2, Dennis explores strategies to enhance cycle time through advanced scheduling solutions, contrasting them with traditional methods. He uses the operating curve, this time to demonstrate how AI scheduling and operational factors, such as product mix, can significantly impact cycle time.

In the second instalment of the Flexciton Tech Glossary Series, we're taking you on an insightful journey through the world of batching. Find out about the many complexities of batching, the existing methods of solving the problem and the wider solution space.

Jannik Post – one of our optimization engineers – takes a look at the background of the Reinforcement Learning methodology, before reviewing two recent publications which apply Reinforcement Learning to scheduling problems.

From 11–13 July 2023, Flexciton will be returning to San Francisco for this the latest edition of SEMICON West. And this time, we’ll be joining the Techworks / NMI members zone, where we will have our own stand – located at booth 945.

We are excited to introduce the Flexciton Tech Glossary Blog Series: A deep dive into the A-Z of semiconductor technology and innovation. In the first edition of the series, Ioannis Konstantelos and Dennis Xenos take a dive into AI and its applications in semiconductor manufacturing.

The diffusion area is particularly important to the smooth operation of a wafer fab. Not only does it receive raw wafers at the very beginning of the fabrication process but it also interacts with many other areas of the fab.

A typical approach is to plan maintenance activities ahead of time using simple rules-based models, where the maintenance is run on a particular day, at a particular time. The consequence of such approach, however, is optimising maintenance timing at the expense of production KPIs such as cycle time and throughput.

At Flexciton, we often talk about how autonomous scheduling allows wafer fabs to surpass the need for maintaining many rules to enable the behaviours they want at different toolsets. Seb Steele offers an analogy to show how significant the difference is.

Staying ahead in smart manufacturing technologies has become paramount for global competitiveness. This topic was the focal point of the recent panel discussion webinar hosted by Flexciton.

Fabs usually approach scheduling in one of two ways; the heuristic approach, which is fast but not optimal and the mathematical approach, which is optimal but time-consuming. In order to attain optimal results that are able to keep up with changes on the factory floor – fabs should consider a hybrid approach.