Interrupt reduction by triggering of maintenance activities using APC machine alarm analysis

As a part of the APC project at Infineon, an automated machine-alarm and -event analysis tool was developed to analyze machine- and process problems. This software is used in the high volume fabs in Munich, Regensburg, Villach, Dresden and Richmond. It is a built-in part in the "APC-Trend" software, which shows trends and systematic deviations of machine and process parameters like temperature, pressure, gas flows and so on. This new tool gives excellent information about machine-problems and the relationship to product logistics, thereby flagging potentially bad lots and wafers for inspection and further analysis.