Introduction
The internet plays an essential role in the business world, and seamless communication between clients and semiconductor manufacturers is one of the critical keys to successful operations. Semiconductor fabrication plants ("fabs") utilize the latest communication technologies to keep tasks on focus, record data, and communicate process and status information to the outside world. The expenses associated with fab production are very high. Plant managers continually face challenges in optimizing yield, minimizing downtime, turning out high quality products, reducing inter-process times, and being able to quickly perform root cause analysis to diagnose human and machine problems along the various phases of production. Having real-time data monitoring with intelligent placement of sensors at key points in the manufacturing chain is crucial.
 

Solution
Advantech's UTC-515 fanless, all-in-one touch PC is meeting specific challenges in fab manufacturing. Proper integration into the fab allows the UTC-515 terminal to handle transaction-based systems for water processing, manage instruction retrieval systems for test equipment, and establish a process parameter input interface for the clean room. A barcode reader records each transaction and automatically relays production process instructions to the manufacturing facility. An RFID module is used to identify employees, which helps track down process errors and keep track of employee productivity. At the same time, real-time data about production quality and yield information is delivered to the UTC terminal, providing continuous monitoring of the entire process.The data is ready for analysis and interpretation, and can be stored or forwarded from the server.

System
The UTC-515 touch system is integrated into the manufacturing loop, and serves as an operator panel. It is connected to a barcode reader/RFID module and accesses a host server via an Ethernet connection. The RFID module is used to identify employees, which helps track down process errors and keep track of productivity.

Benefits 
 n Space-saving 15.6", all-in-one design requires less space on the fab floor
 n Side groove design allows a flexible list of peripheral devices to be easily installed:
          - Barcode scanner (UTC-P07): records data
          - RFID (UTC-P03): for employee identification and tracking system
          - Login by ID can be used for task management and tracking
          - Online system is paperless, saves printing costs, and prevents manual errors
 n Industrial computing performance: High system stability and good connectivity for easy integration with backend data-bases
 n True, full-flat, touch screen design