INDUSTRY NEWS

New fab training program is a virtual paradigm shift

When you’ve developed manufacturing programs that have been used to train 21,000 Intel employees in 15 fabs and 6 countries, you know a few things about what does and does not work. And, Tom Orton asserts, most semiconductor industry training fails for one primary reason.

Stimulating Simulation: Virtual reality visits to diffusion, etch, and photolithography bays are offered as part of the Modis fab training menu.

"Training programs are not measurable," argues Orton, a 25-year veteran with a c.v. that includes stints managing fabs for the Pentium manufacturer as well as for SGS-Thomson. That lack of measurability makes it hard to determine whether the person learning how to operate, say, an ion implanter has retained enough of the training to apply it properly on the job. And chipmakers can little afford to risk discovering what Orton calls "the consequences of not doing step number six."

"I believe we have installed measurement systems and SPC tools because we didn’t do [our jobs] right the first time," Orton says. Putting his engineering and management background to work, he developed a computer- and virtual reality—based training system that forms the basis of a new company he believes will revolutionize how the industry literally operates.

In April 1996 Orton and partner Scott Chamberlain launched their company, Modis Training Technologies. The Mesa, AZ—based firm uses Orton’s data-based training techniques to offer chipmakers and suppliers a timely and economical alternative to traditional classroom-based methods. Chamberlain, who met Orton when they both worked for SGS-Thomson, has 15 years of experience in education. He serves as the company’s vice president of operations.

In addition to the lack of accountability, Orton says traditional technical educational methods take trainers away from the production work they should be doing, require engineers to spend 20 to 25% of their time "away from yield enhancement," and cost chipmakers dearly in both material development and production expenses. The lack of a "tangible" return on investment is a further drawback, he asserts.

The Modis method "lets specs drive the content of the course," says Orton, who is company president and CEO. The database tracks user activities on the computer, the interactive nature of the course making the learner "accountable" for his or her own training. "It’s a significant paradigm shift from the traditional training organization."

Companies that have used the system, including Samsung and National Semiconductor, have experienced a 30% improvement in output, according to Orton, "because their tools are not off-line for training." Modis’s training method can combine animation, video clips, 3-D models, recorded voice instructions, and Java GUI scripting to take a wafer fab trainee on a realistic walkthrough of an etch, photolith, implant, or diffusion bay. The trainee sits before the computer screen and follows step-by-step prompts that give the operator a sense of walking through the fab and running the process equipment. Orton says that some trainees have tried using goggles but have experienced dizziness.

Modis develops the customized programs "by sitting down with fab engineers and deciphering company processes." When the company started, Orton and Chamberlain hired Borland programmers who had worked with C++ and Java. The course has three levels; the first two are computer based, and the third uses virtual reality. Level one introductory courses include topics such as wafer inspection, wafer handling, and cleanroom concepts. Level two features instruction on CMOS process flow, fab safety, ESD, and cycle times. Level three offers advanced virtual reality—based training that simulates an actual fab operation bay by bay.

"For about $30,000 you’ve got the ability to control the output of your tools for the first time," explains Orton, adding, "In the future every tool will have a Modis training program shipped with it."

The VR simulation "breaks down the barrier of getting people used to the fab," Orton emphasizes. Working with Motorola, Modis "took 10 operators with 24 years of experience and retrained them on implanters." Orton says the operators ran only 60 to 65% of the steps correctly the first time they used the interactive method. "It took them six times before they got to 100%." The educational level of trainees using the new method ranges from high school graduates to people with two-year college degrees.

Vitesse Semiconductor, a manufacturer of high-speed GaAs chips, was the start-up’s first customer. Ian Burrows, vice president of manufacturing for the growing Camarillo, CA—based device maker, has known Orton for a number of years. The combination of his personal relationship and the Modis methodology convinced him to sign up.

With approximately 400 employees, Vitesse is a relatively small company with no training department, Burrows notes. "We were going through some rapid growth, and we needed to be able to train operators quickly and effectively," he relates. "We had to more than double our operator head count. The type of business we’re in is very critical, and it’s easy to make a costly mistake." A Vitesse fab coming on-line in Colorado Springs, CO, is already using some of the basic training employed at the California site, Burrows points out.

Trainees include "entry-level people, some of whom have never been in a semiconductor environment," the manufacturing executive says. "Typically, operators we hire have some industrial experience on assembly lines for PC boards, for instance, not necessarily in the semiconductor field. Fundamentally, they have the right stuff but not necessarily the experience."

Asked whether Vitesse can trace yield improvements directly to the use of the Modis courses, Burrows replies, "I’d have to say yes, but we have to be able to measure them via comparative studies, which is the only true way to determine whether [our yields are better now]." His intuitive conclusion is that yields have risen. "We would have been worse off had we not done it."

Orton notes that the training has weeded out potential fab employees who discover they’re not cut out for wearing the bunny suit for a living. He cites two examples involving a carpenter and a construction worker. "In this instance, they made the decision, because they were empowered by the training."

"It’s the first time anybody’s applied science and data to training," Orton insists, adding that his 14-year-old son tried the VR program. "I tell you he could walk into Intel and build a Pentium."

Modis has sold approximately 50 of the training packages since its launch. The company plans to make VR training available for all fab tools "about the middle of 1998." Meanwhile, the company has plans to further expand the capabilities of its Web site that will enable customers to automatically update their training program when it changes specs, then download a customized training program using "a hidden Web site that’s completely firewalled."

What’s to prevent another company from mimicking Modis? "Not much. About three years worth of work," replies Orton, who eventually expects competition for his 30-employee firm. "I’m sure of it. It’s too big a market." Modis predicts the training market will grow at an annual clip of 10% from $180 billion currently to $200 billion by 2000.

"We collect hard data, just like they do with jet pilots," Orton says of his company’s methodology. "Believe me, they don’t let those pilots up in those planes unless they know how to fly them."

Told of the pilot analogy, Burrows further expands on it. "It’s not that you destroy the equipment. It’s the value of the product and the time to recover that are the issues. You don’t really crash and burn the jet, but basically you can lose your missiles and take a risk of being shot down."

And Orton believes that when it comes to training, he and his partner know what’s going to fly in the notoriously turbulent semiconductor business. "The next level of productivity is going to have to come from people doing their jobs right," he insists.

Images courtesy of Modis Training Technologies.

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