Factory automation software from Brooks-PRI Automation quenches Seagate’s thirst for constant process improvement 

Seagate Technology LLC is committed to delivering award-winning products, including disc drives for enterprise applications, PCs and consumer electronics; Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions; and server appliances. With significant manufacturing and product development operations worldwide, the company prides itself in being a quality provider of storage technology for Internet, business and consumer applications.

Seagate is continuously searching for ways to improve its operations. Consequently, Daro Diddell, executive director of wafer, recording heads, detected the need to introduce tighter control within the manufacturing process.

“As smoothly as our manufacturing process was running, my job is to constantly look for new ways to improve it. Resting on our laurels is not an option at Seagate. So I felt it was crucial to improve control and consistency with the implementation of an integrated manufacturing execution system (MES)," he said.

Dean Cress, director of factory information systems for Seagate’s Normandale, Northern Ireland, and Malaysian facilities, shares Diddell’s obsession for constant improvement. The Normandale wafer facility, which manufactures recording heads used in the company’s disc drives, needed a replacement for its largely manual process controls.

Diddell and Cress saw an opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity in the wafer facility through automation. Diddell’s goal was to increase control of Seagate’s manufacturing factories, both in terms of logistics (material flow and equipment status) and data flow to and from all manufacturing processes.

Wafer fab production typically involves about 500 process steps performed over one month. Such a complex process demands tight control, real-time visibility and process feedback in order to optimize yields. Because shortening cycle time increases margins significantly, improving cycle time is necessarily an ongoing quest.

Seagate turned to Chelmsford, Mass.-based Brooks-PRI Automation Inc. for a complete, integrated automation solution that would enable Seagate to be first to market with innovative products and maximize yield, thus controlling costs. Brooks-PRI Automation delivers total automation for semiconductor manufacturing.

Seagate chose Brooks-PRI’s FACTORYworks software, to integrate its MES activities and manufacturing control requirements, streamlining the flow of materials and information from raw material to finished goods.

According to Cress, there were several considerations that convinced him to choose Brooks-PRI’s solution.

“Ultimately, it came down to a cost and benefit performance ratio,” he said. “We determined the total cost of ownership was in favor of FACTORYworks vs. other solutions. We also had confidence in the configurability of FACTORYworks’ architecture. It is designed with a flexible framework to accommodate a changing architecture. We knew we could customize and extend the system to suit the way we conduct business, enabling us to customize the operational and dispatch rules that are appropriate for our particular environment.”

“FACTORYworks has the necessary features to integrate the capabilities of a full MES environment into our operations in the United States, Europe and Asia," said Diddell. "With FACTORYworks, we can streamline the flow of materials and information and track product components. We handle the work in process [WIP] more effectively and have eliminated key operator dependencies.”

Diddell said there has been a reduction in errors as well as quicker identification of issues. The overall benefit to Seagate has been higher yields and lower operating costs.

Seagate also saw the benefits of purchasing Brooks-PRI’s Xsite software for computerized maintenance management, and its Advanced Productivity Family (APF), which consists of an array of software tools: including APF Reporter, AutoSched AP, and Real Time Dispatcher (RTD).

FACTORYworks integrates with Xsite software to provide a computerized means of controlling all aspects of maintenance activity, from breakdown analysis and work order control to condition monitoring and preventive maintenance scheduling. 

Brooks-PRI’s FactoryWorks and APF products went live at Seagate’s Normandale facility in May 2001, during a six-week implementation process. The Xsite product was implemented in October 2001. In the Normandale facility, Seagate has integrated the full Brooks-PRI MES product suite of APF Autosim Productivity Family, Xsite and FACTORYworks.

“The impact of FACTORYworks, along with APF and Xsite, has been dramatic," said Diddell. "With APF, we have real-time processing point verification, which informs you instantly where the lots are in the process. Our dispatching and prioritizing and scheduling are also done in real-time to optimize capital usage and minimize cycle time. We have also automated several key processes that were once done manually, processes requiring customized recipes, saving time and increasing accuracy."

“Xsite was attractive because it can easily link with FACTORYworks and provide similar functionality," said Cress. "The integration of Xsite with APF and FACTORYworks provides enhanced dispatching and logistical control in a real-time environment. We have seen significant improvements, as well as improvements in priority setting and dispatching, through the use of Brooks-PRI’s products."

According to Diddell, “We have seen about 20 percent overall process yields improvement in the Normandale facility, with several point downstream yield improvements to Seagate because of tighter control.

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