Industry News, Trends and Technology, and Standards Updates

by Derek Lindsey,
Principal Software Engineer

I have a four year-old who is heavily into the “Why?” stage right now. He asks, “Why?” about everything. Several years ago when my daughter was that age, she had a neighborhood friend who was the queen of, “Why?” One time I decided to play along to see how many times she would ask why before she gave up. I don’t remember the original topic, but it had something to do with our deck. After a few iterations of her asking why and me trying to explain, I had reached the molecular level of describing deck stain. (She outlasted me, by the way.)

Karl Wiegers wrote an excellent book called Software Requirements. In chapter 7, he discusses requirements elicitation. He calls it “the most difficult, most critical, most error prone and most communication-intensive aspect of software development.”

Often times, preliminary discussion of requirements will result in the customer telling you what he thinks he wants rather than what he really needs. Rather than ask the question, “What do you want?” we should really be asking “What do you need to do?” Wants are usually expressed as design details (i.e. “I want the button to be green if the state is active”) whereas needs are the real requirements (i.e. “I need a way of letting the user know when the state changes.”)

To really get to the heart of what the customer needs, we can all learn from my 4 year-old neighbor and ask “why” several times to get to the molecular level of the problem that needs to be solved. Just taking the customer comment that the button needs to be green at face value is easy to implement, but doesn’t really meet the need of the customer. Asking why the button needs to be green and a few follow on questions easily uncovers the real need.

The World Cup is one of the greatest sporting events around the globe - and, for many parts of the world, it is THE sporting event of the year. This year, ABC & ESPN experienced an 80% gain in viewers during the opening matches... and the team at Cimetrix definitely helped contribute to that statistic. An avid fan, Cimetrix's CEO, Bob Reback, spearheaded the "soccer spirit" and organized several gatherings to view the matches.

With a worldwide customer base, it was fun to establish a friendly rivalry with the teams (and our friends) from other countries. However, with the US no longer in the running, we chose to focus our loyalties on the other strong teams: the Netherlands and Germany.  Our friends at Assembleon appreciated the support:

If you're new to football and/or the World Cup, you might want to check out "A step-by-step guide on How to Appreciate a Soccer Game." before the final matches.  And for the latest news and results, visit the official World Cup website: FIFA.

by Brent Forsgren,
Director of OEM Solutions

Fabs are like people, each one has it own personality traits. Fortunately, and arguably unfortunately, unlike people, most fabs have a handbook for their “personalities” in the form of specifications. I have found it interesting, that like people, fab “personalities” have common and unique features. Here are a few of examples:

• There are some fabs that I would classify as the “Clean Freak.” Compliance to GEM and GEM 300 standards is important but more important to them is preventing cross contamination between FOUPs, and from wafer to wafer – “Who left this loadport door open? Don’t you know you can spread particles by doing that??”
• Then there are other fabs that I would classify as the “Punctilious.” Again, compliance to the GEM and GEM300 standards is required but more important to them is knowing exactly when you are going to be done, when you are ready for more, are you done yet, how much longer are you going to be, are you done yet?
• Then there are other fabs that are “Methodical-ious” (if I can make that a word). Everything must happen in a very specific order. 1) Don’t allow jobs to exist without material at the tool first; 2) Download the recipe before every job that is created; 3) Create the job now. 4) If the FOUP is removed before the job starts, refer to rule 1.
• And let’s admit it, all fabs are “Control Freaks,” if they weren’t we wouldn’t be in business. They control when jobs are run, how jobs are run, and what a job does.

Hmmmm……that makes me wonder, if fabs are like people, does that make companies like Cimetrix psychiatrists?

by Vladimir Chumakov,
Software Engineer

We started using C# at Cimetrix about 5 years ago when we first started working on CIMPortal™, our Equipment Data Acquisition product. Later on we used C# exclusively for development of our Equipment Client Connection Emulator (ECCE) tool; EDAConnect™, a client-side software library product for implementing the SEMI EDA Standards; and CIMControlFramework™, an equipment automation framework for tool control.

Here is why we chose - and keep using - C# for new project and product development at Cimetrix:

• The biggest advantage using C# brings is not the programming language itself but the extensive amount of functionality provided by the Microsoft .NET Framework. The development time savings by using the .NET Framework could be measured in years.
• We used ASP.NET libraries for development of CIMPortal’s Web GUI and implementation of the Interface A SOAP interfaces.
• WinForms is by far easier to use than MFC library in C++ that we've used before.
• WCF is used in EDAConnect for implementation of the Interface A SOAP interfaces and as inter-process communications in CIMControlFramework.
• ADO.NET is the framework used for working with Databases. We use it in CIMStore and CIMControlFramework products.
• And the best part is that Microsoft continuously keeps improving its .NET Framework. Microsoft released a new 4.0 version of the .NET Framework today on April 12th. It contains many new features. The most exciting is Parallel Computing Platform  which includes significant advancements for developers writing parallel and concurrent applications, including Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), the Task Parallel Library (TPL), new thread-safe collections, and a variety of new coordination and synchronization data structures.
• Visual Studio (we currently use 2005 and 2008 versions) is an excellent development environment for both C++ and C# but has many features exclusive to C# that we take advantage of:
• The Unit Testing Framework helps us with the creation and maintenance of test code.
• C# Code refactoring. Refactoring is a formal and mechanical process used to modify existing code in such a way that it becomes 'better' while preserving the program's intended functionality. In addition to improving a program's overall design, the refactoring process tends to yield code which is far easier to maintain and extend in the long run.
• C# Language advantages over C++
• Automatic memory management allows much easier implementation of memory-leak free code.
• 64-bit programming. There is no need to maintain two separate versions of source code or to have different builds – the same C# application runs on both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows and is automatically compiled on the fly into native 32 or 64 bit code.
• Performance. Contrary to common belief that C# is slower than C++, we've found that when features like immutable objects, lock-free containers and automatic memory management are used together, applications written in C# are faster than similar application written in C++.
• There are still areas where C++ is better than C#
• Application startup performance. Because C# applications are compiled at the run time, on the fly, it takes more time for application to start.
• C++ templates are still powerful than generics in C#

All these advantages, especially in development time savings, is the reason why we use and will keep using C# at Cimetrix.

by Bob Reback,
President and CEO

I always enjoy meeting with customers. I may be a little “old school,” but the personal touch of sitting across the table from someone, having a cup of coffee and learning firsthand what they think of our products, our people and our services is always educational, and even more so when the news is not good, as that gives us the opportunity to learn and improve going forward. Of course, the non-verbal communication is often times more important than the words, and you just can’t get that over the phone.

Due to the downturn in economic conditions during late 2008 and early 2009, we limited all company paid travel. As president, I also set the example to use the telephone and web conferences for most customer interactions. As business conditions began to improve in late summer of 2009, we began to relax our travel constraints. This led me to take a business trip to Europe to meet with some of our semiconductor customers as well as a few of our new PV customers.

Being on the road visiting customers usually involves a very full schedule, and Cimetrix business trips are even more so. This business trip started off meeting with customers in The Netherlands and then we drove across Germany meeting with customers in a number of cities as we made our way to our final destination in the Munich area. As we drove across Germany and stopped in a number of cities and small towns, I was surprised to see quite a few modern, high tech windmills, but I was shocked at the solar panels. We saw solar panels on the roofs of commercial buildings, residential building, farms and just about any type of structure with a roof. We saw solar panels in cities, towns and the countryside as we drove by on the Autobahn.

The German government has been the world leader in promoting renewable energy. The German government implemented a program of “feed in” tariffs that provide subsidies for entities (people, businesses, etc.) to install solar panels. As it was explained to me, it is typical in Germany to purchase electricity at a rate of say $0.08 to $0.10 per kilowatt hour. The government feed-in tariff means that if someone installs solar panels on their roof, the German government will guarantee that it will purchase all of the electricity from your solar panels for the next 20 years at the price of $0.45 per kilowatt hour. (Note that the feed-in tariffs decline every year). Since you have a guaranteed contract to sell this electricity to the government, people are able to go to a bank and borrow the funds to cover the upfront costs of installing the solar panels. Then the profit obtained on a monthly basis is sufficient to pay back the loan and interest charges. After about 10 years, the loan is paid off and then the person with the solar panels can enjoy the operating profits for the remaining years on the original 20 year contract. It was fascinating to see firsthand the results of this program, as well as have discussions with many of the German people. Not only did we discuss with many of the engineers that are our customers, but we had discussions with the average citizens in various restaurants and hotels. Everyone knew the term “PV” and there was certainly an air of excitement about leading the world in renewable energy.

You might ask, “How does this affect Cimetrix?” Well the theory is that government feed-in tariffs will stimulate demand, which in turn will stimulate production of more solar panels, which will then lead to improved efficiencies in both the technology used in solar panels as well as the economies of scale, which will ultimately lead to better price/performance solar panels that are cost effective on their own merits without government subsidies. Since solar panels are based on silicon or thin film substrates and have a similar manufacturing process to computer chips, there is a need to continually improve the manufacturing process to make better solar cells and lower the manufacturing costs. That is where factory connectivity and advanced software systems similar to those used in semiconductor manufacturing come into play. Many of the German PV manufacturers have adopted the “PV2” software for connecting manufacturing equipment with factory software. Cimetrix has enhanced its product offerings to meet these needs and hopes the industry is successful in promoting widespread usage of these PV software standards. If this happens, this should significantly increase the available market for Cimetrix products and services.

by DeAnn Rowan,
Marketing

As a blog reader, we would like to ask you a question:

So….What do you think?

We’ve been at this blogging thing for 6 months (almost to the day) now. We’ve seen a lot of interest as the traffic to our blog posts continues to rise at a rapid pace. The entire Cimetrix team has provided contributions and feels passionate about the information that we have been sharing with readers.

Some of our most popular posts to date – and ones you’ll want to check out if you haven’t already - include a narrative touting the benefits of software frameworks, a comparison of the data collection functions of SECS/GEM and Interface A, and the answer to the “He Said/ She Said” game between equipment and host.

What have you found to be the most valuable?
What topics would you like to see discussed more? Or less?

We want to be a resource of information for you regarding the SEMI connectivity standards and their implementation. As you read through our blog, please feel free to ask questions or provide insight on the topics being discussed. We welcome your comments!

In addition to this blog, we encourage you to interact with us, and others within the manufacturing community, via various social media networks:

Use these avenues as an alternative means to ask questions, provide feedback, and stay abreast of any industry or Cimetrix updates.

Thank you for your continued readership and we look forward to future discussions.

Connect with Us on LinkedIn:

• Bob Reback, president and CEO
• Jodi Juretich, CFO
• Dave Faulkner, EVP Sales & Marketing
• Bill Grey, Director of Research & Development
• Brent Forsgren, Director OEM Solutions
• Doug Rust, Director Product Engineering & Customer Support
• Brian Rubow, Manager Customer Support
• Stu Benger, Director of Sales North America
• Bruce Febvret, Director of Sales Europe

by Peggy Faulkner,
Assistant Controller

When I confided to a long-time friend with whom I used to work in the financial arena at General Electric that I was thinking of returning to work after 20 years of raising a family, and that I would be doing Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance work for Cimetrix, she gasped, and blurted, “I am SO sorry!” I was pretty sure her dismay was not an indictment of me returning to work, nor to Cimetrix—it was all about SOX.

When SOX was federally mandated in 2002, as a financial regulatory response to the Enron and Worldcom (and others) scandals, the intent was to soothe panicked investors and restore confidence that our public companies operate under sufficient financial control, oversight, and transparency. Revenue level or company size matter not—all public companies must comply, and compliance places a disproportionately heavier cost burden on small companies such as Cimetrix. Annual auditing must be performed by an independent, registered public accounting firm, and an extra layer of control in the form of reporting and certification is included in all SEC filings by financial management. Transparency to financial reports is now greater, and penalties for financial fraud or misrepresentation are harsh.

In an economic downturn, such as we are now experiencing, the cost of compliance becomes even more burdensome. Nonetheless, Cimetrix is fully compliant with all SOX regulations, and has been for some time now, due to the diligence of the Finance team. Long before I joined the company, measures were taken to reorganize, analyze, report, and verify financial data at a SOX-mandated level.

Currently, cross-training and report collaboration within the department ensure an additional level of review. Our goal this year is to become paperless—in keeping with environmental concerns, and our connection to the PV industry, perhaps?

Eighteen months after talking with my old friend, when she asks how things are going, I smile and say, “Piece of cake!”

Now, if I could just win the company Soup Cook-off!!

by Brent Forsgren,
EFA Practice Manager

It is the start of a new year, thank goodness! I wonder what is in store for my Global Services team this year. Last year was a tough year for the semiconductor market, but early indications and market experts are saying that 2010 should be much better than 2009.

On top of the market’s expected upward turn, Microsoft released Windows 7 in late 2009 to replace their not so popular Windows Vista. I expect that a significant portion of our customer’s equipment sales this year will be of existing technology and software. But for our customers that will be developing and selling new tools and software, will you jump to Windows 7 or will you wait for it to prove itself in the market place? Additionally, if you switch to Windows 7 will you also make the jump to a 64-bit architecture or will you stay with the aging 32-bit architecture?

We welcome your comments and feedback! I would love to hear your thoughts and plans.  Please comment below or email me at brent.forsgren@cimetrix.com.

Cimetrix's main offices in Salt Lake City will be closed starting, Thursday, December 24 through Friday, January 1. Returning to normal business hours on Monday, January 4th.

Should you require assistance during that time, please do not hesitate to contact us:

• License Requests: licenses@cimetrix.com
• Place an Order: orders@cimetrix.com
• Support Incidents: support@cimetrix.com

by Dave Faulkner,
EVP, Sales & Marketing

At SEMICON Japan 2009, Cimetrix announced a transition in its distribution strategy in Japan. Rorze Corporation has been appointed as the exclusive distributor in Japan for Cimetrix Factory Automation and Tool Control products. Rorze provides innovative robotic and wafer handling solutions to the global semiconductor industry. Cimetrix and Rorze have been working together for several years with Rorze transitioning the FA for its Sorter line to Cimetrix CIMConnect and CIM300 products, and working closely with Cimetrix to integrate its EFEM and vacuum platforms with the Cimetrix CIMControlFramework tool control software. This technology exchange led to an investment by Rorze in Cimetrix and the appointment of Rorze as the Cimetrix exclusive distributor in Japan. Rorze’s software department has engineers on staff who are familiar with the SEMI FA standards and have used Cimetrix FA and tool control products on previous projects. Watch for more news as this relationship broadens to add new channels throughout Asia.

At SEMICON Japan, Rorze and Cimetrix demonstrated a new 450mm wafer capable vacuum platform. This platform was controlled by Cimetrix CIMControlFramework and was cycling both 300mm and 450mm wafers. It created quite a stir on the main aisle at SEMICON Japan due to the actual moving demonstration and discussions by ISMI about progress on industry usage of 450mm platforms. Please contact Rorze or Cimetrix for more information.