Facilities Technologies

Using a database to support an equipment hookup project

Frank Mattukat and Stephan Migge, M+W Zander

The use of a single, equipment card­based database can facilitate process tool installation and provide as-built documentation for later fab buildout.

In any new fab construction project, hookup—the connection of all process and support equipment to the building's facility systems—is the last step before the start-up of production. A complex and time-consuming process, hookup involves a variety of systems, ranging from electrical supplies and gas distribution lines to drains and mechanical exhaust systems. The hookup project described in this article was carried out at the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany (shown in Figure 1). As the general contractor, M+W Zander (Stuttgart, Germany) designed and built this turnkey fab, which includes approximately 12,000 m² of Class 100T cleanroom space and was designed for the production of the Athlon processor, a highly sophisticated PC cpu with six metal layers. The entire project was budget driven, yet at the same time the fab had to be built to accommodate future chip generations and further decreases in device geometry.

 

Figure 1: AMD Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany.

 

Figure 2: Schematic representation of a typical hookup project.

To support the hookup project team, M+W Zander developed customized database and software tools for use in the design and document control of all process tool­related connection activities. Based on equipment cards, this database system is the focus of this article. Special emphasis is given to the use of value engineering to minimize costs without adversely affecting the performance of the production equipment.

Project Overview

Although the main activities and processes of a hookup project partly overlap, as shown in Figure 2, such projects typically involve six steps:

1. Fact-finding—setup of the design team and schedule, preparation of the database and tender (bidding) documents, and preauditing of subcontractors.
2. Design—schematic design of all typical component assemblies and process equipment. Detailed design activities include generating plan views of all tools on all levels, space management guidelines and drawings, and vacuum pump rack and foundation drawings. All the tool-related design documents are combined in the equipment cards, which are available to the client and subcontractors. The release target of each equipment card is 4 weeks ahead of the tool's scheduled dock date (delivery at the fab), so that as much of the piping and cabling as possible can be preinstalled to minimize the time between the delivery and start-up qualification of the tool. Additional schematic design information can be issued before the completion of the equipment card in order to procure materials that have long lead times.
3. Construction management—site setup and all construction activities, including environmental, health, and safety considerations; quality assurance/quality control; rigging of equipment; clean protocols; and controlling, reporting, and scheduling.
4. Installation.
5. Commissioning and closeout—following the installation of connections to the equipment, the facility systems have to be turned on and the tools validated and commissioned.
6. Handover—following commissioning, the tools are handed over to production for use and the hookup facility systems and piping are handed over to the fab's facility department.

The project's main activities can be further broken down into a series of interrelated detailed tasks. Figure 3 provides an example of such tasks and their interactions. From design to handover, however, all activities have to be scheduled and coordinated on a tool-by-tool basis, which is a complex and demanding process. In some projects, some tools may still be in the design stage after others have already been handed over.

 

Figure 3: Fact-finding process flow diagram. (Fac Hut = facilities hookup team and CM = construction management.)

The hookup project described here started design in January 1998, and between May and November approximately 350 process and production support systems were installed. Of those, approximately 60 were major tools—etchers, CVD machines, and wet benches, some of which have as many as 20 individual support modules (such as remote frames and vacuum pumps). The remainder of the toolset consisted of production support equipment such as metrology equipment, CMP systems, and equipment used for maintenance purposes. Installation manpower was well above 250 during peak times, not including management and indirect labor. Most of the installation phase was conducted as a single-shift operation, since local labor laws restrict round-the-clock installation programming. The typical peak-time installation rate was five major tools (complex production equipment) and five minor tools (e.g., metrology tools) per week.

The Equipment Card

With the customized database system, an equipment card for each process tool is generated during fact-finding and used throughout the entire life cycle of the hookup project. The equipment card is the data-entry platform of the database, which provides basic document control for all equipment-related hookup activities. It also provides as-built documentation for use in power generation plant consumption analyses, the optimization of facility system mains and submains, and the utilization of supply piping. Furthermore, it provides background documentation for the design of similar tools when a fab extends its production capacity. Because equipment card data can be output via Microsoft Excel, information can be easily e-mailed to tool vendors for quick review and updating.

Each process tool's equipment card reflects the exact tool configuration along with the exact location of all parts with regard to building levels and coordinates, as seen on the sample wet bench equipment card in Figure 4. Main frame and support equipment are listed and detailed, along with weights, dimensions, and the contact persons for that particular tool.

 

Figure 4: Sample equipment card for a wet bench.

The equipment card also lists every facility system connection to the process tool along with all necessary related information, including any interconnects integral to the process equipment. The sample equipment card in Figure 5, for example, includes bulk-gas consumption data. It also identifies the fab facility takeoff valve and the exact connection type that is used for each gas hookup, and indicates whether a shutoff valve, pressure regulator, or filter is required in the hookup installation. This information verifies that the related procurement activities have been properly documented and allows the contractor to review them with the fab owner to avoid either redundant or missing components, such as local UPS support modules.

 

Figure 5: Sample equipment card listing the bulk gases that are supplied to a wet bench.

Each equipment card is divided into nine main facility system groups: bulk gases, chemicals, drains, electrical, exhaust, liquids, monitoring, pump vacuum, and specialty gases. This division follows well-established practices in assigning subcontractor responsibilities and reflects the reality that each facility system group has its own key components (for example, filters and pressure regulators are required for gas systems, but not for electrical supplies or drains). Rather than using standardized configurations for each facility type, the hookup team individually checks which key components are needed in each particular process tool connection, thereby minimizing installed components while meeting specifications. Dividing the equipment card into system groups also aids unit-cost analysis, simplifies contractor material remeasure, and helps specify the scope of a given subcontractor's work.

In addition to their use during the design phase of the Fab 30 hookup project (as described below), equipment cards were used to support the commissioning of the facility systems. Exhaust systems, for example, were adjusted by the commissioning team according to the maximum consumption values on the equipment cards, which were gathered and discussed during fact-finding. Because all the data were available in a single standardized format instead of on various vendor drawings, the team was able to complete its tasks expeditiously. To keep the content up-to-date, feedback generated during commissioning and start-up was entered into the database and identified with revision notation.

When the average consumption is known, the equipment database can be used to determine facility main and submain loading and to predict possible shortfalls for future buildout. An up-to-date database that contains all known service consumption values is an effective tool for determining medium- and long-term investment timelines for future service extensions. In the described project, data for the complete fab buildout are being added.

Design Document Generation

During the schematic design phase of the hookup project, data from the equipment cards were used with other parts of the database to automatically create schematic drawings and their associated parts lists. Using data from a single source minimized CAD and engineering manpower requirements while enhancing the data integrity of all design documents. Data from the equipment cards provided tool- specific connection requirements, and the database also provided information on pipe and cable sizing as well as on typical connection details. Both types of information had been discussed and agreed on earlier by the hookup project team.

The automatically generated schematic design documents consisted of piping and installation diagrams (see the example in Figure 6) and parts lists denoting all main components (see Figure 7). The diagrams showed all piping and components used for the hookup of a particular tool and were divided into the nine main facility groups to facilitate the identification of scope specifications and encourage "apples-to-apples" bidding processes.

 

Figure 6: Detail from a piping and installation diagram showing bulk gas lines to a wet bench.

Figure 7: Parts list for the diagram in Figure 6.

The autogeneration of design documents is a key element of the hookup database and offers the following advantages:

• Rapid design production.
• Savings in CAD and engineering manpower.
• Automatic generation of bills of materials and remeasure sheets in conjunction with the generation of piping and installation diagrams.
• Automatic sizing of hookup pipes and cables according to agreed-on design rules.
• Standardization of drawing symbols.
• Full data integrity between equipment cards and schematic designs.

Cost Control and Change Management

Because chip manufacturers are constantly under pressure to minimize costs, cost control and change management are key factors in every fab construction project. Therefore, the current project was executed on a unit-price basis—that is, every installed component was assigned a fixed price in the negotiations with all subcontractors. This price was divided into material and labor components to enhance pricing transparency and to make bidding more competitive.

Budgeting was done on a tool-by-tool and facility-by-facility basis. Every piece of process equipment had its own budget, which included a section for each facility (mainly corresponding to the nine main facility system groups). The initial overall budget was based on benchmark figures and was then refined by factoring in the actual cost of the first tools handed over. During the course of the project, budgets were updated using the database, the bills of materials, and the unit prices. After completion of each tool, the actual cost was fed back into the budget to update the cash-flow forecast.

Supervisors tallied the amounts of piping and components that were installed immediately after installation, and the results were noted on a remeasure sheet. The template for these sheets is based on the piping and installation drawings and is generated automatically during the autogeneration of the diagrams. All field modifications that had a cost impact were subject to approval from AMD prior to execution. The approval was logged into the database along with a budget estimate of the change.

Project Results and Outlook

In all major construction projects, the main goals include staying on schedule and below budget. To achieve the latter goal, it is essential that hookup cost relative to equipment capital cost (EQC) be minimized by utilizing efficient design and construction management methods, supported by a database system. Figure 8 indicates the success of the current project in that regard. Specifically, the figure shows the trend of hookup cost relative to EQC over several past projects and the Fab 30 project, along with a future target.

 

Figure 8: Trend in hookup cost versus equipment capital cost achieved by the design-and-build contractor.

Figure 9 shows the number of tools handed over for production use during the project's 15-week installation period. The lower line depicts the same data for a project completed several years ago. Comparing the two lines reveals that more tools were handed over more rapidly in the current project. As these two figures suggest, the hookup project managed to satisfy the owner in regard to both cost and schedule.

 

Figure 9: Number of tools handed over during the installation period of two projects.

An additional result of using the integrated database system is that as-built documentation has been provided to the client in an electronic format for future use. Besides the electronic source files, all equipment cards, system specifications, and test reports have been converted into Adobe Acrobat .pdf files, which do not require an expensive CAD installation.

M+W Zander will continue to support AMD by installing tools for capacity extensions and new process areas until the end of this year. These efforts include copper metallization tools for future Athlon processors. The current project team consists of members from both companies, who cooperate to ensure a smooth step-by-step handover of tools for production use. In addition, the database developed for this project is scheduled to become the standard for all of M+W Zander's future hookup activities.

Conclusion

The connections between process equipment and a newly built fab's facilities (the so-called hookup) is the last step before starting up production. In AMD's Fab 30, a database system designed and customized by the general contractor was used to support the hookup project team from initial fact-finding to the handover of the completed installations. By collecting tool-related information on equipment cards and using a single database for design and construction management support, the team completed this project in a timely and cost-efficient manner. The project approach was influenced by considerations of value engineering, close control of design documentation, installation coordination, and change management.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all of the hookup team members, especially facility manager Hans Lüdeck and Werner Freimann, the AMD hookup manager. They also wish to thank Danny Hoenig of Kent Technical Application.

Frank Mattukat joined M+W Zander (Stuttgart, Germany) in 1996 and was involved with the AMD Fab 30 hookup project from the initial presentation. He was project manager for phases II and III of the hookup. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. (Mattukat can be reached at +49 7032 943215 or frank.mattukat@mngrafix.com.)

Stephan Migge is a department manager at M+W Zander, where he is responsible for the management and control of major projects. Since joining the company in 1986, he has been a project manager involved in the engineering, design, construction, coordination, and scheduling of process supply facilities. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from the Fachhochschule Esslingen in 1982. (Migge can be reached at +49 711 88041314 or stephan.migge@mw-zander.com.)

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