Industry News, Trends and Technology, and Standards Updates

SEMICON Southeast Asia is coming up at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in Kuala Lumpur on May 7-9. Cimetrix is exhibiting at the show this year for the first time ever! In addition, we are pleased to announce our sponsorship of the new SMART Manufacturing Journey at the Global Pavilion. If you are attending SEMICON Southeast Asia this year, please stop by to see us at our Booth (#528) or meet with our team in the Pavilion.

SEMICON Southeast Asia has become an important exposition for the electronics industry in Southeast Asia, so we are excited to be exhibiting. In the booth you can see all of our connectivity and control products in action. A few short steps away is the Smart Manufacturing Journey, where you can hear one of our industry experts speak at the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion. 

In particular, Ranjan Chatterjee, VP & GM Smart Factory Business at Cimetrix, will share his thoughts on the "Consolidation of the Electronics Supply Chain and its Impact on a Data-driven Deployment Strategy for Smart Manufacturing" at the Technology Innovation - Smart Manufacturing & Smart Data Forum at 3:50pm on Tuesday, 07 May. 

If you'd like to schedule an appointment, please fill out our events meeting form by clicking below. Otherwise, we hope you'll drop by and see us during the show!

Cimetrix participated in the recent European Advanced Process Control and Manufacturing (apc|m) Conference, along with over 150 control professionals across the European and global semiconductor manufacturing industry. This site of this year’s conference was Villach, Austria, a picturesque town nestled in the eastern Alps just north of the Italian border in the state of Carinthia. This region is home to a number of high-tech companies and institutions all along the semiconductor manufacturing value chain, and since it was the first time the conference was held in Villach, the local hosts rolled out the red carpet. 

This conference, now in its 19th year and organized by Silicon Saxony, is one of only a few global events dedicated to the domain of semiconductor process control and directly supporting technologies. As usual, the conference was very well organized, and featured a wide range of high-quality presentations, keynote addresses, and tutorial sessions. The supplier exhibits associated with this year’s event were especially numerous, as were the technical posters displayed in the exhibition area just outside the conference rooms.

As in many prior years, Cimetrix was privileged to present at this conference, as Alan Weber delivered a talk entitled “Addressing Connectivity Challenges of Disparate Data Sources in Smart Manufacturing.” The presentation highlighted the need for unifying data collection concepts—like explicit equipment models and generic structures for data collection plans—are increasing necessary for maintaining the fidelity of a factory’s “digital twin” in Smart Manufacturing settings where the number of data source types is growing. This presentation resonated with a number of the key conference themes, so if you want to know more, feel free to download a copy of the entire presentation from our web site.

Other highlights of the conference included:

• An update by Otto Graf on the ambitious vision and progress of the BOSCH 300mm wafer fab now under construction in Dresden. In this talk he emphasized the role that digital technologies will play in bringing up the fab and climbing the yield ramp and other features of a wall-to-wall Industrie 4.0 implementation. 
• “The Role of APC and Smart Manufacturing / Industrie 4.0 in New Reliability-Critical Markets“ by James Moyne (University of Michigan / Applied Materials) – James re-presented a number of the Smart Manufacturing technologies in the context of automotive industry requirements, especially the role that Subject Matter Expertise (i.e., people!) will play alongside other emerging technologies. He also pointed out that the Factory Integration chapter of the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) will be reorganized around the key tenets of Smart Manufacturing.
  
  
• A thought-provoking invited talk from Dr. Roman Kern of the KNOW-CENTER titled “Possibilities and Challenges of Digitalization in the Semiconductor and Other Domains.” His key messages started with “Big Data is the new oil…. AI is the new electricity… and Data Science is the new lingua franca for leading global industries,” and then he went deeper into all of these.
  
  
• Dr. Germar Schneider of Infineon Technologies built on the theme above in a practical setting with his “Chances and Challenges of Digitization in Semiconductor Fabs and Success Factors during the implementation” presentation. This was not only an in-depth look at some of the multi-year efforts at Infineon, but also included a summary of current digitization projects across the European manufacturing R&D community. 
  
  
• Another invited talk from BMW was delivered by Rainer Hohenhoff which covered “Product Data and Product Life Cycle Management in the face of new business models of the automotive industry.” In short, it discussed many of the ways a car company might make money even after people stop buying as many cars as they do today… and what collisions (pun intended) you could expect in the market as service companies like Google, Amazon, UBER, and others converge on the transportation consumer. 

There were poignant moments as well. After 19 years of personal dedication to this event, both Gitta Haupold of Silicon Saxony and Dr. Klaus Kabitzsch, Program Committee Chair from Technical University of Dresden are retiring. They will definitely be missed!

The insights gained from these and the other 30+ presentations are too numerous to list here, but in aggregate, they provided an excellent reminder of how relevant semiconductor technology has become for our comfort, sustenance, safety, and overall quality of life. 

This conference and its sister conference in the US are excellent venues to understand what manufacturers do with all the data they collect, so if this topic piques your interest, be sure to put these events on your calendar in the future. In the meantime, if you have questions about any of the above, or want to know how equipment connectivity and control fit into the overall Smart Manufacturing landscape, please contact us!

Read the Post-show report of the SEMICON China 2019 show today. Read it now in Chinese or below in English.

3月20日至22日在上海国际博览中心举行的SEMICON China 2019，不仅是全球规模最大的SEMICON展会，还与Productronica China， Electronica China和FPD China同时举办，集高科技领域于一体，令人惊叹。因此，SEMICON中国吸引了世界领先的技术公司，这些公司设计、开发、制造和供应驱动着当今最复杂的消费和商业产品的微电子产品。这个庞大的群体为这个行业创造了巨大的能量和令人兴奋的事物!这是Cimetrix作为独立参展商参加展会的第一年，整个展会期间我们的展位都很忙碌! 我们的团队成员来自全球各地，包括中国大陆的黄玉峰和刘波（Clare Liu）, 来自台湾的Samson Wang, 来自韩国的Hwal Song和来自美国的Bob Reback, Dave Faulkner和Kim Daich。以我们传统的SECE/GEM和EDA产品为特色，我们的展位展示了各种设备的连接和控制解决方案。

总的来说，SEMICON China对Cimetrix来说是一个巨大的成功，我们对中国半导体市场的机遇有了第一手的了解。我们的客户也对我们的产品感到满意。展会已经结束，我们还有很多工作要做，去跟进的新需求和机会。

要了解更多关于Cimetrix产品和服务的信息，您可以随时安排会议。

SEMICON China 2019, held on March 20-22 at Shanghai International Expo Center, is not only the largest SEMICON show in the world, it was co-located with FPD China, Productronica China and Electronica China… an awe-inspiring collection of high technology at one venue. As such, SEMICON China attracts the world's leading technology companies who design, develop, manufacture, and supply the microelectronics that drive today's most sophisticated consumer and commercial products. The huge crowds created a tremendous amount of energy and excitement for the industry!

This the first year Cimetrix participated as a stand-alone exhibitor, and we stayed very busy at our booth throughout the event! Our team consisted of a global group with Yufeng Huang and Clare Liu from China, Samson Wang of Taiwan, Hwal Song from Korea and Bob Reback, Dave Faulkner and Kim Daich from the U.S. And, featuring our traditional line of GEM (SECS/GEM) and EDA products, we had demos available in the booth for our full range of equipment connectivity and control solutions.

Overall, SEMICON China was a great success for Cimetrix, and we came away with first-hand knowledge of the scope of opportunity in the China semiconductor market. Our customers are happy and there is a lot of work to do now that the show is over to follow up with new leads and opportunities.

To learn more about Cimetrix products and services, you can schedule a meeting any time.

SEMICON China 2019 is fast approaching and we will be there! You can read about it now in English or below in Simplified Chinese!

Shanghai is the best place to be March 20 – 22 as it welcomes SEMICON China, Productronica China and more this year in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Cimetrix will be attending SEMICON China for our fourth straight year and we hope to see many of you there! Please drop by booth #N4- 4284 any time during the expo!

China is a growing market for the industry and for Cimetrix! We have expanded our office to better serve our customers as we expand throughout the region and we believe SEMICON China is the perfect place to come together with our current customers and many of the industry leaders.

The main focus of SEMICON China is to further the development of the China semiconductor and related emerging industries. You will see high-level executives from the semiconductor industry and others showcase their products and give presentations during this three-day show.

As we prepare for the show, we welcome any meeting requests by clicking the button below. Or you can always drop by our booth at any time. We hope to meet you there!

3月20日至22日，上海新国际博览中心将迎来本年度的SEMICON China、Productronica China等诸多盛会。Cimetrix将连续第四年参加SEMICON China，我们诚挚的邀请您展会期间莅临N4-4284展位交流，由衷的希望能在那里见到各位!

对于整个半导体行业和Cimetrix来说，中国是一个不断增长的市场! 随着Cimetrix在全球规模的不断扩张，我们已经拓展了我们的办公区域，以更好地服务于我们的客户。我们相信，SEMICON China是与我们的客户和许多行业领导者相聚的完美地方。

SEMICON China的主要目标是进一步发展中国半导体及相关新兴产业。在为期三天的展会上，您将看到来自半导体行业和其他行业的高层管理人员展示他们的产品并发表演讲。

作为为展会做的准备，我们欢迎任何会议请求，点击下面的按钮。或者您可以随时莅临我们的展位。我们很希望在那里见到您!

Our 2019 has started with a bang! First with CES (Consumer Electronics Show) at the beginning of January, rapidly followed by APEX at the end of the same month. What intrigues me is that the ingredient technologies promoted as essential to the success of autonomous driving, smart homes and smart cities at CES, are exactly the same as those discussed as enablers for smart manufacturing at APEX. The drive for Industry 4.0, like the drive for the digital transformation of our lives, will be built on connectivity, on data and, of course, on the actionable intelligence that is derived from that data.

At APEX, I spent a lot of my time listening to speakers, talking to our customers and prospects and sharing my own ideas with industry luminaries on panels. The story is extremely consistent. The fundamental need in the short term is to get everything in the factory, and in fact throughout the entire manufacturing ecosystem, connected and digitized. What is less consistent is the approach to doing that, with many making a simple process much more complex than it needs to be.One element which, to my mind, is creating unnecessary inertia, is the debate around standards. Within the industry there is considerable debate around the new standards. Whilst some great work has been done, and in many ways it is a fine example of how IPC can bring the industry together, the whole debate has made a simple task more complex than needed. Many users are asking which standard to use, do I need one or multiple, what machines connect to which standard and when will all the new standards be available everywhere?

Yes, the new standards could be good, but it certainly isn’t the only good standard, and it will take a long time to develop, debug, adopt and implement. The suppliers in the industry along with a few MES providers are quite animated about the new standards, but the EMS companies and OEMs making product as well as the PCB fabricators, and of course the semiconductor industry, are less excited. Many of them have existing communications standards like GEM, ELS, etc., that work perfectly well. Others have legacy machines that would need additional hardware and software to connect to new standards, but have some existing and functioning communications protocol.

The truth is connectivity should be simpler, and it can be. The semiconductor industry has been through this entire experience over the last two decades and many companies have successfully connected thousands of machines from hundreds of vendors in dozens of facilities in many countries. At Cimetrix, we have been working with them and have been delivering simple, scalable, economic connectivity solutions as well as the layers of analysis and intelligence that are built on top of that.

My advice to anyone starting their smart factory journey is to get the digitization and connectivity done and move onto building the digital building blocks of analytics and intelligence as well as value as quickly as possible. The inertia caused by worrying about standards is counter-productive and could cause companies to be left behind. They could also remain in the Proof-of-Concept purgatory forever.

One of the pleasing things about the debates and discussions related to smart factory at APEX is the willingness of vendors to collaborate. Most, if not all, recognize that smart factory solutions won’t come from a single vendor. Machine makers are also realizing that their deep domain knowledge combined with data manipulation only delivers part of the value and the way that data is shared on the line and beyond is where additional performance benefits can be found. There are now dozens of partnerships between the machines that collect data and those that use data, some in a closed loop but more recently in a manner that makes data available to whoever can derive value from it. These open communications and data formats will deliver real value in the future and make smart manufacturing a reality across the whole supply chain, from sand to phone.

There is a universal awareness that this digitization will drive a huge growth in data volumes. Many see cloud and hybrid cloud solutions as an important part of the data storage mix. Huge amounts of data also need manipulation and vendors are betting on AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help manage the data and derive real value.

It’s fascinating to see the ingredient technologies of the smart cities, smart homes and smart living, finding their way into smart factories and it will be exciting to see how the PCB and SMT industries utilize these huge leaps in progress driven by the consumer electronics world.

(This post first ran on EMSnow.com on February 14, 2019.)

IPC Apex Expo is one of the largest gathering of professionals from the printed circuit board and electronics manufacturing industry (EMS). Attendees and exhibitors come from around the world to participate in the expo, the technical conferences and Standards Development meetings. This is the third year in a row that Cimetrix has exhibited at the IPC Apex conference.Cimetrix features the latest in Smart Factory and Equipment Connectivity technology. For the show this year, we chose to upgrade our booth space, allowing us to have more meeting room within the booth as well as several prominent demo stations in each corner. We also featured a popular Virtual Reality station in our booth. We brought a great team of ten to the show this year to staff the booth, give demo’s and greet the many attendees who stopped by throughout the 3 day expo.

We chose to participate in the popular Passport to Prizes game for the second year in a row. This sponsorship is a great tool to get the Cimetrix name out in the industry. It also brings in many attendees to our booth for some great conversations about our products and services.

We also had to opportunity for the Cimetrix Vice-President and General Manager of Smart Factory Business, Ranjan Chatterjee, to be interviewed by SCOOP TV both one-on-one and as part of a larger panel discussion. You can view Ranjan's one-on-one interview in the Cimetrix Resource Center.

To learn more about our products or services, you can schedule a meeting any time. 

IPC Apex is next week, and we hope to see you in Sunny San Diego! This year we’ve upgraded our booth and you can find us exhibiting at #2801.  We will be participating in the exciting Passport to Prizes program so be sure to look us up so you are eligible for some excellent giveaways!

IPC Apex is the largest event for electronics manufacturing in North America. You’ll find exhibitors and attendees from around the world come to participate in standards development, a technical conference and professional development. It’s a great place to network and we’re excited to build new relationships as well as meet with current clients!This year, we are partnering with BTU to demonstrate equipment connectivity and real-time OEE (Overall equipment Effectiveness) metrics, so be sure to stop by our booth  (#2801) or the BTU booth in the Smart Manufacturing area.

 The show starts Tuesday, January 29 and goes through Thursday January 31 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA, USA.

If you would like to learn more about how Cimetrix software products can help with your Smart Equipment and Smart Factory goals, please stop by booth #2801 during the show. You can also request a meeting any time on our website. We look forward to seeing you there!

Read now in Korean or below in English.

씨메트릭스는 이번 2019 년 SEMICON Korea전시회에서 귀사와 만날 수 있기를 바랍니다! 올해 우리는 부스 # C818에서 우리의 파트너인 링크제니시스와 공동으로 전시합니다. 전시회는 1 월 23 일부터 25 일까지 서울 코엑스에서 개최됩니다. 씨메트릭스는 장비 자동화와 통신 소프트웨어 관련 최고 기업으로서 한국뿐 아니라 글로벌 시장에서 동반자로 같이 일할 수 있는 여러분들을 만나고자 합니다.SEMICON Korea는 1987 년에 시작되어 대한민국의 반도체 산업가 그 성장을 같이 해왔습니다. 이번 전시회에서도 반도체 소재 및 장비의 모든 최신 기술을 선보일 예정입니다. 특별 프로그램 중에는 인공 지능 정상 회의 (AI Summit), AI 관련 새로이 창출된 기회를 진단해 볼 수 있는 자리와 반도체 업계 입장에서 인공 지능과 자동차의 부상에 따르는 시장을 이해하는 데 도움이되는 세미나, 차세대 혁신가들을 끌어 들이기위한 Workforce Development Seminar등이 있습니다. Smart Manufacturing 포럼은 우리 업계에 일어나고 있는 큰 변화와 커다란 기회에 대하여 모두가 함께 일하면서 무엇이 효과적이며 다음에 필요한 것이 무엇인지를 논할 예정이여서 많은 분들에게 인기가 있을 것으로 예상합니다.

씨메트릭스 제품이 여러분의 현안뿐 아니라 미래의 전략이나 Smart Manufacturing이라는 목표에 어떻게 도움이 될 수 있는지 자세히 알고 싶으시다면 전시회 기간 중 C818 부스를 방문하여 주시기 바랍니다. 웹 사이트를 통하여 언제든지 회의를 요청하실 수도 있습니다. 전시자에서 곧 봽기를 기대합니다! 

Cimetrix is heading to the 2019 SEMICON Korea show next week, and we hope to see many of you there! This year we are co-exhibiting with our partner Linkgenesis at booth #C818. The show will be at COEX in Seoul from January 23 – 25. We look forward to meeting with clients, prospects and colleagues to discuss new opportunities.

SEMICON Korea launched in 1987 and has been bolstered by the growing semiconductor industry in Korea. This exhibition will showcase all the latest technology in semiconductor materials and equipment. Some of the special programs include an AI Summit, examining new opportunities with AI implications, a Market Seminar to aid in understanding the rise of AI and automotive in the  industry, and a Workforce Development Seminar, aimed at drawing the next generation of innovators to the industry. A Smart Manufacturing forum is going to be popular as there are big changes and big opportunities for our industry as we work together to share what’s working and what is needed next.

If you would like to learn more about how Cimetrix products can help with your Smart Equipment and Smart Factory goals, please stop by booth #C818 during the show. You can also request a meeting any time on our website. We look forward to seeing you there!

It's getting close to the end of 2018 and we thought it was a good time to look back over our year and think about the many things Cimetrix has done. We are really proud of our team, which spans the globe, their hard work and accomplishments throughout the year. 

Tradeshows and Events

Our team attended, presented and exhibited at more than 25 events this year. These events covered the U.S., Europe, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and more. SEMICON West was a flagship event for us, as we took a large team to support two distinct booth areas. These included SEMI’s inaugural Smart Manufacturing Pavilion, where both Alan Weber and Ranjan Chatterjee spoke. You can review this event in the following three blog posts:

SEMICON West Pre-show
Alan Weber's Smart Manufacturing Pavilion speech
Brian Rubow's SEMICON West SEMI Standards meetings wrap-up

SECS/GEM Series

One of our longest series was also one of our most popular ever! It covers the major features and benefits of the GEM standard. Each post was written by one of our engineers who is an expert in the topic. You can review the entire series or select a particular topic you are most interested in learning more about.

SECS/GEM Series

International Offices

Cimetrix has been extremely active this year, and one of the most exciting areas was the opening and/or expansion of several offices in Asia. In February we announced the opening of Shanghai, China office. This blog post is one of several bi-lingual posts we published during 2018 and was one of our most viewed. Learn more about our efforts in China now!

Cimetrix International, Inc., China; 矽美科国际有限公司，中国

Cimetrix Team Members

We have run a Meet Our Team series for over a year, and this is consistently one of our most viewed blog series. Everyone loves getting to know the faces behind the company, and we likewise enjoy introducing our team to the world. You can see all of our Meet Our Team posts at the link below and be sure to stay tuned, because our team is growing, and we will continue to introduce them in this series!

Meet Our Team blog series

And finally, we can't have a year-end wrap-up without our most popular blog of the year...

Gigafab Minute

In October of this year, Alan Weber, our Cimetrix V.P. of New Product Innovations introduced the world to the Gigafab Minute infographic. This blog was picked up and re-posted by SEMI and passed around by some of the most influential leaders in the semiconductor industry. If you haven't seen it yet, we'd encourage you to take a few minutes to read it and leave us your comments!

The Gigafab Minute and SEMI Standards: A Modern Miracle

Take a chance to peruse our posts and remember, you can always stay up-to-date by subscribing to our blog! 

シンメトリックスは、来週開催されるセミコンジャパン2018に向け、準備を進めています。今年も皆様にお会いできることを、楽しみにしております。Read now in Japanese or below in English.

今年弊社は、スマート・マニュファクチュアリング・エリアにブース（♯3493）を設置しており、弊社のスマート・マニュファクチュアリングのソリューション提案をご紹介しています。

また半導体産業エリアでは例年通り、長年弊社の代理店をお引き受け頂いておりますローツェ株式会社様（♯5507）、株式会社明電舎様（♯4626）と共同出展させていただいております。

今年もお客様、ソリューションをお探しの方々、また様々なパートナー様とお会いし、将来へ向けてのご協力のお話しをさせていただけることを、楽しみにしております。

SEMICON Japanが2018年に選んだテーマは、「今始まる成長と繁栄」（Dreams that Fuel Growth and Prosperity Start Here）です。日本は世界の半導体製造装置の3分の1、世界の半導体製造業界で使用されている材料の半分以上を供給しています。

SEMICON Japanは、日本と世界のエレクトロニクス製造サプライチェーン企業との関係をとりもつ素晴らしいイベントです。

SEMICON Japanには、スマート産業と半導体サプライチェーンを結ぶSMART Applications Zoneや、この関連産業界の新しい事業を紹介するイノベーションビレッジなど、いくつかの革新的な分野があります。また、世界的なネットワークを構築し、展示会を大いに盛り上げるパビリオンがいくつもあります。 

セミコン期間中に、ブースにお立ち寄り頂ければ、Cimetrix製品がスマートマニュファクチャリングにどのようにお役に立てるか、ご相談させて頂けると思います。またWEBミーティング等でもいつでもご相談頂けますので、お気軽にお申し付け下さい。会場でお会いできることを、楽しみにしております。

Cimetrix is gearing up for the 2018 SEMICON Japan show next week, and we hope to see many of you there! This year we will have a booth in the Smart Manufacturing Area (#3493) and we will also be co-exhibiting with Rorze (#5507) and Meiden (#4626) who have been our long-time distributors.  We look forward to meeting with clients, prospects and colleagues to discuss new opportunities.

The theme that SEMICON Japan has chosen for 2018 is “Dreams that Fuel Growth and Prosperity Start Here”. Japan supplies one third of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment and more than half of all the materials used by the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. As a result, SEMICON Japan is a great event to make connections with both the Japanese and global electronics manufacturing supply chain companies.

SEMICON Japan will feature several innovative areas including the SMART Applications Zone, which will connect SMART industries with the semiconductor supply chain, and an Innovation Village which is a place to showcase startups in this industry. There will also be several pavilions that generate a global networking energy and foster excitement for the show. 

If you would like to learn more about how Cimetrix products can help with your Smart Manufacturing goals, please stop by during the show. You can also request a meeting any time on our website. We look forward to seeing you there!