CCD and CMOS Sensors:
Supporting Market Needs
with Borderless Production |
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Sony continues to maintain its industry-leading
share in the CCD market. In contrast, we
are expecting a significant increase in demand
for Sony CMOS sensors, which combine
previously unavailable high-speed imaging
performance and high picture quality.
As the industry’s top supplier of image sensors,
we have introduced the concept of
“borderless production” at Kumamoto Technology
Center to appropriately and flexibly
respond to market needs. Basically, we have
positioned the existing Building 1 as our
CCD production line and Building 2 as our
CMOS sensor production line. However, we
have implemented a large number of innovations
and technical devices so that if required
CMOS sensors can be produced in
Building 1 and CCDs can be produced in
Building 2. Thus even though there are two
buildings, the facility functions as a single
line.
Facility Sharing
Although CCD and CMOS sensors have different
device structures and operating principles,
many of the several hundred process
steps required for their manufacture are similar.
Sony made an effort to reduce the number
of manufacturing equipment units that
were unique to either CCD or CMOS sensor
production, and created a system in which
approximately 80% of the equipment can be
shared.
Moving between Buildings
The connecting corridor between Building 1
and Building 2 is maintained at the same level
of cleanliness as the clean rooms, and workers
can come and go between the buildings
while wearing their clean suits. The wafer
transporters can also be used and operation
as a single line is possible.
Creating a Common Production Management System
When we introduced the latest production
management system, which supports automated
lines, in Building 2, we replaced the
system in the existing Building 1 with a new
system that is the same as that in Building 2.
......
Sony has made the decision to invest an additional
60 billion Yen in Building 2 over the
2007 to 2009 fiscal years, in particular, increasing
the clean room area by another 5000
m2 and improving the manufacturing equipment
as well. |
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| Fully Automated Production
Line that Covers Equipment
Management and Inspection |
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. |
In addition to automated wafer transport, Sony
is pushing forward with full automation of
production line operation in Building 2 so
that the whole line can be operated with as
few staff as possible. This will make it possible
to quickly grasp variations in the manufacturing
processes and is intended to prevent
the occurrence of rejects in advance and
suppress variations in product quality.
Automation of the Inspection Process
Sony has also introduced equipment that can
make automatic judgments for the inspections
that were previously performed visually.
This increases the precision and efficiency
of the inspection process.
Equipment Engineering System (EES)
Previously, the presence or absence of faults
was detected in the completion of the manufacturing
process for film thickness or machining
dimensions. That is, problems in
manufacturing were recognized from the results
of the process. However, with the
Equipment Engineering System (EES), it is
possible to become aware of abnormal indications
even more quickly by monitoring,
with an external server in real time, measurement
values from sensors (such as temperature,
gas flow, pressure, and valve operation
sensors) installed in the production units.
This system is also useful as an analysis tool
for quickly the basic causes of abnormalities
due to equipment.
Furthermore, we are now introducing technologies
that can perform predictive detection
even for undetected faults by applying
multivariate analysis to the sensor data,
which consist of an enormous number of
measurements.
Process Feedback (APC)
Sony is adopting technology that, if a variation
in a manufacturing process is recognized,
adjusts that process automatically for
the next lot based on the result of analysis
and thus stabilizes the quality.
APC: Advanced Process Control
Establishing Intelligent Production Plans
Which lots should be processed and with
what timing to respond appropriately to
changing market needs? Sony is introducing
a system that formulates daily production
plans at high precision. |
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| Thermal Efficiency is 2.4 Times
the Normal Level. Sony Also
Leads in Energy Efficiency. |
| . |
. |
Through the adoption of equipment with
good energy efficiency and overall control,
Sony achieves, in Building 2, a yearly average
of 7.5 in Coefficient of Performance
(COP: (output energy) ÷ (input energy)), an
index of energy efficiency. This corresponds
to a COP value approximately 2.4 times that
for a typical heat generating system.
Sony also collects rainwater from the roof
of Building 2 and uses it for toilets and other
uses, thus reducing annual water consumption
by 1400 m3. |
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 Thoroughgoing Quality Management Using Knowledge from Innovative Manufacturing |
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all articles with figures and tables.  |
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Vol.50 |
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