With the continuous breakthrough of semiconductor technology, the status of semiconductor industry in China's economy has become increasingly prominent. In this ever-changing industry, how to improve production efficiency and reduce costs has become the focus of attention of major enterprises. As the wafer manufacturing process becomes more complex and the number of production plants increases, the storage area of workshop conversion becomes particularly necessary. The crane (OHT) is to improve the efficiency of material transportation, reduce labor costs and reduce pollution risks, and to a large extent improve the inconvenience of cross-district handling.
01（OHT）Introduction
OHT (Air walking truck) is the abbreviation of Overhead Hoist Transfer, an automatic handling equipment that can travel on the air track, driven by the lifting device motor belt, Automatically grab the FOUP (Front Open Unified Pod) set in the wafer loading machine (LPU, Load-Port Unit), which realizes the rapid and stable transfer of wafers in each processing area, and does not occupy the floor space of the clean room. It is widely used for material handling In 12-inch semiconductor front-end fabs, such as Work In Process (WIP) during manufacturing, not only for the production line's machine (Tool), but also for the transfer operation between the machine and the wafer Buffer.
Components:
The crane handling system mainly consists of the following parts:
a. Guide rail: a rail installed on the ceiling of the building for the movement of the crane.
b. Crane: Lifting equipment that moves along the guide rail to grab and place materials.
c. Vehicle: A special container for carrying and protecting materials (such as wafer boxes).
d. Control system: automation system responsible for controlling crane movement, grasping and placing materials.
a. Guide rail: a rail installed on the ceiling of the building for the movement of the crane.
b. Crane: Lifting equipment that moves along the guide rail to grab and place materials.
c. Vehicle: A special container for carrying and protecting materials (such as wafer boxes).
d. Control system: automation system responsible for controlling crane movement, grasping and placing materials.
02Advantages of crane handling system
The average speed of the OHT (crane) is up to 5m/s (18km/h) on a straight track and 1m/s (3.6km/h) on a curved track.
Compared to other automated handling systems, such as automated guided vehicles and conveyor belts, OHT offers the following advantages:
a. Improve production efficiency: OHT can move materials from one location to another in a short period of time, reducing the time required for material transportation, thereby improving production efficiency.
b. Reduced manual intervention: The automated operation of OHT reduces human contact with materials and reduces the risk of contamination.
c. Space saving: OHT is installed on the ceiling and does not occupy the floor space, which improves the space utilization rate.
d. Cost reduction: OHT's automated operation reduces labor and maintenance costs.
e. Improve reliability: OHT has high operational stability and reliability, ensuring the continuity of the production process.
a. Improve production efficiency: OHT can move materials from one location to another in a short period of time, reducing the time required for material transportation, thereby improving production efficiency.
b. Reduced manual intervention: The automated operation of OHT reduces human contact with materials and reduces the risk of contamination.
c. Space saving: OHT is installed on the ceiling and does not occupy the floor space, which improves the space utilization rate.
d. Cost reduction: OHT's automated operation reduces labor and maintenance costs.
e. Improve reliability: OHT has high operational stability and reliability, ensuring the continuity of the production process.
03Development prospect of Tianchuan in our country
Emerging domestic AMHS manufacturers need to go through a long verification process to enter the semiconductor field, as China's industry continues to develop, many regions in the country are building new fabs to meet the growing domestic semiconductor demand. Automated handling equipment (AMHS) in these new fabs has been standard, coupled with the previously built 8-12 inch stock production line automation transformation needs, in the next four years, the average annual market demand for AMHS systems in domestic fabs is about 3-4 billion yuan.
At present, the domestic AMHS crane program has been running on the test line or local line of the fab. It is believed that with the passage of time, domestic manufacturers continue to accumulate experience, technological innovation, and under the help of localized design, manufacturing, service, short delivery time, and low cost advantages, the domestic AMHS industry will achieve considerable development.
At present, the domestic AMHS crane program has been running on the test line or local line of the fab. It is believed that with the passage of time, domestic manufacturers continue to accumulate experience, technological innovation, and under the help of localized design, manufacturing, service, short delivery time, and low cost advantages, the domestic AMHS industry will achieve considerable development.
I-stock
I-stock is a high-tech enterprise specializing in total solutions for smart workshops. With years of technical accumulation and industry experience, we provide efficient and accurate material handling solutions for semiconductor wafer factories, chip manufacturers, chip packaging factories, etc.
As the core product of Istock, OHT helps enterprises to improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and improve product yield. In the future, I-stock will continue to be committed to technological innovation and make greater contributions to the intelligent development of the industry.
As the core product of Istock, OHT helps enterprises to improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and improve product yield. In the future, I-stock will continue to be committed to technological innovation and make greater contributions to the intelligent development of the industry.
Image from: Semiconductor Integrated Research Institute
