iPM - A fab preventive maintenance forecasting & downtime management tool

The problem of efficiently planning and coordinating preventive maintenance (PM) activities is one of the most challenging problems to fab manufacturing. At the module level, planning and coordination requires, in addition to the time and usage factors of each maintenance activity, consideration of other aspects such as head-count, training plans and tool upgrades. At the production line segments level, the challenge is in the synchronization of multiple toolsets with material flow in order to achieve fast cycle times. In the past, module specific excel based solutions were used, with no real standard, and without integration across all these multiple modules. Fab28, the Intel factory in Israel, took upon itself to solve this complex problem in preparation for its start-up and ramp and provide Intel a business driven seamless solution.