Introduction:

Human factors engineering can be applied to systems design to minimize the time and effort required to perform periodic preventive maintenance as well as unscheduled maintenance. Field observation techniques can also be developed to ascertain the level of effort required to maintain existing systems and to identify opportunities for system improvement.

Fab maintenance technician reaching into stepper to clean particle off chuck—an example of complex microelectronics equipment not designed for ease of maintenance.

Benefits:

• greater task efficiency and reduced Mean Times To Repair
• improved system performance and reliability
• increased process tool utilization
• fewer operational errors
• decreased stress in maintenance technicians
• reduced fatigue and incidence of cumulative trauma
• reduced training time and costs
• less reliance on maintenance manuals
• reduced installation and maintenance costs
• decreased maintenance staffing

Capabilities:

• existing design analysis and support of new designs
• design of hardware enclosure and maintenance access
• design of software and computer-aided diagnosis interactions
• work process design and process tool layout
• assembly/disassembly procedure evaluation/design
• maintenance task analysis and quantification
• field checklist design and validation
• cost saving analysis
• design and redesign options optimization

Pareto diagram of observed stressors causing the most additional          
             task times in a semiconductor tool maintenance study for
             SEMATECH.

Experience and Customers:

1. Microelectronics processing equipment design consulting- -SEMI-SEMATECH, Applied Materials, Verteq, Silicon Valley Group, Genus, KLA Instruments, Intel, Semiconductor Industry Assoc., FSI Int'l., Eaton.

2. Process tool maintenance task analysis and checklist development research resulting in estimates of potential tool-utilization increases--SEMATECH

References:

1. Miller, D.P., The Effects of Ergonomic Stressors on Process Tool Maintenance and Utilization, SEMATECH Technology Transfer Report 98023456A-ENG, March 1998.

2. Miller, D.P., Top-Ten List of User-Hostile Interface Design: The ten most frequent mistakes made in human-computer interface design, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, 13(3), American Vacuum Society, May/June 1995.

3. Miller, D.P., XLS Menus, a video demonstrating good examples of ergonomic HCI design practices, presented at Network Day and AVS Meeting, August and October 1994.

4. Miller, D. P. and H. O. Whitehurst, Preventing User-Hostile Interfaces in IC-Fab Equipment: Ergonomic approaches for preventing ten frequent user-interface problems, SEMATECH Technology Transfer Report 92091299A-ENG, November 1992.