Automated FOUP Handling and Delivery in Semiconductor Manufacturing Plant
Twenty SESTO Prime AMRs have improved productivity, safety and traceability within a US semiconductor plant located in Singapore. Previously, human operators had to manually carry loaded FOUPs which are both high value and heavy through narrow passageways flanked by tools and racks. SESTO Prime automates the handling and delivery of FOUPs and have allowed operators in this leading semiconductor manufacturing plant to be freed up to focus on more value-added tasks.
Challenges:
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Fragility of high value wafers in FOUPs
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Narrow passageways flanked by tools and racks
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24/7 operations in semiconductor plants
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Availability and efficiency of labour
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Fully loaded FOUPs are heavy
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Require clean room compliance standards
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Traceability of FOUPs during transfer
Solution:
20 units of SESTO PRIME with 7-axis robot arm were deployed to autonomously swap FOUPs between the stocker, multi-tier rack and tooling machines within a limited space. With a high run time provided by SESTO PRIME hotswap battery system, SESTO Prime is certified for applications in clean room environments to carry out machine tending and FOUP deliveries. With high level of intelligence and a mature fleet management system, the 20 AMRs are also integrated with the factory’s ERP system to provide end to end automation.
Outcome:
With the implementation of these autonomous mobile robots from SESTO Robotics, these outcomes are achieved: transition towards lights out manufacturing, 24/7 uptime with only 15 minutes required per day for battery swap, reduced machine idling time and improved traceability of payload.