Who works in a chip fab
Seven roles, three you can play
A wafer fab runs around the clock. When one tool goes down, the technician, manufacturing, the process engineer, the equipment engineer, integration and the section chief each see a different problem. Below, one section per role: how their day goes, what they dread, and where you meet them in fab24hr. The ones marked "Play this role" you can play directly, one shift through their eyes. The tools, lots and people are fictional; the work is drawn from engineers' and manufacturing supervisors' public accounts (see Sources on the About page).
Technician (operator) · Manufacturing (MFG) · Process engineer (PE) · Equipment engineer (EE) · Process integration engineer (PIE) · Section chief · Vendor engineer
Technician (operator)
The person standing at the tool. Loads and unloads lots, watches the lights, works to the SOP; when a tool lights up, stops it and reports it per the OCAP.
Their day
- Start of shift Handover from the last shift, tool by tool: what's running, what's waiting
- All shift Walk the tools, load and unload, watch the tower lights
- When a tool lights up Stop and report per the OCAP; don't press reset on your own
- End of shift Write what's unfinished into the handover sheet
What they dread
- Being asked to run a tool you're not certified on yet
- A light comes on and you're not sure whether to press it
- Hot lots keep cutting in and your own lots slide back
In the game
Mei-Ling (18 years in) and Zhe (three months in). In the Manufacturing story you push carts with them and wait for the certified person to come back.
Manufacturing (MFG)
The people who keep lots moving. Dispatching, moves, Q-time, and the first to see a tool light up.
Their day
- 07:20 Clock in, handover from nights tool by tool
- 08:30 Report moves and WIP at the morning meeting
- All day Dispatch: which lot goes on which tool first, the ones near their Q-time limit go first
- When a tool lights up Put the lots on hold per the OCAP and call the tool's owner
- 19:20 Handover to the night shift
What they dread
- A tool is down and nobody can say when it'll be up
- A hot lot cuts in and the lots behind it run out of Q-time
- Things that have no box on the handover sheet
In the game
Manufacturing's four shifts: the call to the on-call engineer at night, the morning ETCH-03 is down, a super hot lot cutting in, and a handover with one line missing. The core is the dispatch board.
Process engineer (PE)
Owns whether what a tool makes is right. Watches measurements and control charts, manages recipes, and after a repair runs the qual that decides whether the tool can produce again.
Their day
- Night On-call: when a tool acts up, the night shift's first call is to you
- 08:30 Report the tool's status at the morning meeting
- Morning Follow the alarm's clues and decide what needs replacing
- Afternoon Run the qual after the repair, finish the wafer that got stuck
- Evening Write the incident report, look at the yellow light nobody has dealt with
What they dread
- Being asked "when will it be up?" when all you can say is "when I'll know"
- Manual operations with nothing in the system to stop a mistake
- A control chart drifting slowly while nobody watches
In the game
The original story: you look after an etch tool called ETCH-03, from the 02:47 phone call to clocking out.
Equipment engineer (EE)
Keeps the tools running. Maintenance, parts, alarms; once it's fixed, hands the tool to process for the qual run.
Their day
- Night On-call: the night shift sends photos, and you decide from home whether to come in
- Morning Open the chamber, swap parts, pump down, leak check
- Afternoon Maintenance, chasing spare parts
- Evening Alerts from the tool monitoring system (FDC): telling real ones from false alarms
What they dread
- Production wants capacity, so maintenance keeps getting pushed back
- No spare left, so you have to borrow from another section
- Thresholds so tight they page you all night, or so loose you miss what goes bad slowly
In the game
Equipment's four shifts: three phone calls, a chamber open to swap the electrostatic chuck, no spare part, and false alarms all night.
Process integration engineer (PIE)
Owns the lots. Looks at yield across the whole flow and decides whether a lot on hold continues, gets reworked or is scrapped.
Their day
- 08:00 Check where their products got to overnight and which lots are on hold
- 08:30 Report hot-lot progress at the morning meeting
- 10:00 Disposition lots on hold: continue, rework or scrap
- Afternoon Look at measurements and electrical data, chase yield
- All day Answer "when will this lot ship?"
What they dread
- A lot on hold with the reason field left empty
- Every step saying the problem isn't theirs
In the game
Ya-Ting. In the process engineer's story, her hot lot is stuck in your tool.
Section chief
Runs one section. Reports up, asks for time down the line.
Their day
- 07:45 Read the night's incident summary
- 08:30 Chair the morning meeting
- 10:00 Department meeting, asked why there's a red light
- 16:30 Chair the review meeting
- Evening Duty phone; serious incidents get reported up the line
What they dread
- A red light on and nobody able to say who's handling it
- The same thing happening twice
In the game
Chief Chen. The morning meeting, the review meeting, and the "one more thing" call just before you clock out.
Vendor engineer
Sent by the tool maker. Brings the parts and tools, and has to suit up before getting into the fab.
Their day
- Service call Bring the part in and wait outside the air shower
- At the tool Take things apart and set them up by the maker's procedure
- Before leaving Leave a service report
What they dread
- Being called out in the middle of the night
- Arriving to find it wasn't the part after all
In the game
The one waiting outside the air shower with a part. On Equipment's morning shift, this is who brings the new electrostatic chuck.
How they work together
The night a tool goes down: the technician sees the red light and stops per the OCAP; manufacturing puts the lots on hold and calls on-call; the process engineer decides whether the chamber needs opening; the equipment engineer opens it and swaps the part; integration decides what happens to the stuck wafer; the chief asks at the morning meeting when it will be up.
The three roles you can play in fab24hr live the same day: Manufacturing's call at night goes to the process engineer; the handover sheet the process engineer reads in the morning is the one Manufacturing wrote; the yellow light the process engineer stares at in the evening is, on Equipment's side, a threshold in a monitoring system.
- About fab24hr: how to play, the four shifts, common questions, sources
- A day in the life of a fab engineer: who does what (PE, EE, PIE, manufacturing), and the day hour by hour
- Chip fab jargon in plain English: MO, Hold, Q-time, OCAP and the rest, one plain sentence each
- fab24hr in the classroom: 20- and 40-minute lesson plans, discussion questions, devices and privacy