Vision-based assets tracking and maintenance management on the production floor of integrated semiconductor devices

Abstract

The paper presents a cost-effective system for hardware assets (transportation carts and integrated circuit (IC) carriers) tracking and maintenance management on the production floor of a large-scale IC manufacturing plant. Currently, the preventive maintenance (PM) on these assets is implemented mostly by having the technicians to go around the factory floor to find the items that are due for maintenance. This is done by looking at the label information attached to each and every cart and magazine or IC carrier. Furthermore, after the PM procedure, the label on the cart/magazine has to be replaced by a new one with updated information. This a very time consuming and inefficient process. Inevitably, a new approach needs to be looked into in order to improve time efficiency as well as the accuracy of the assets tracking. One way is to replace the paper data entry to electronic data entry by using tagging and tracking technologies. The asset tracking identifier must be durable to withstand high-temperature conditions (up to 170OC). Several technologies have been analyzed such as barcode-based identification, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Global Positioning System (GPS), iButton application, and Wi-Fi localization. Subsequently, the barcode technology was chosen due to its usage simplicity, cost-effectiveness, durability in the high-temperature environment (with appropriate lamination), and tag power independence. The proposed barcode technology solution uses handheld intelligent terminals with wireless communication capabilities and a host computer with a database linked not only to the preventive maintenance methodology but also to the integrated production information system of the production plant. In addition, the locations of the assets are tracked and can be shown on a visual factory map so that the staff can collect the carts and magazines easily. As a result, the system has dramatically improved preventive maintenance to make this process more convenient for the maintenance management task. Further expansion of the system by incorporating the visible-light positioning technique is proposed and elaborated as the direction for future development.