In 8 of every 10 mobile telephones, in 4 of every 10 color televisions, and in countless computer peripherals and cars, lives a Philips Semiconductors integrated circuit. Most people rarely think of the design technology required for these chips, much less the safety challenges of their manufacture. At the Philips Semiconductors plant in Albuquerque, NM, Tour Andover Controls representative Entech Sales and Service, Inc addresses exceptional security and safety needs through systems integration.
The Philips Semiconductors Albuquerque facility is approximately 500,000 sq ft, comprised of four clean room manufacturing areas and adjoining materials storage and office spaces. The facility currently produces semiconductors used by clients all over the world.
A variety of manufacturing processes take place at the plant, but all have common steps. Philips Semiconductors purchases raw silicon wafers and applies from 28 to 52 process layers, each made up of thousands of resistors and transistors. Initially, an epitaxial coating is laid down. Next, the integrated circuit process adds numerous layers through etching, photolithography, diffusion, baking, and other techniques. The completed wafers, containing hundreds of "die," are then sent to another facility to be cut and assembled into an integrated circuit package. While this manufacturing process demands a very high level of attention and control, ensuring a safe and secure workplace is the most important priority for Philips.
No Room for Error
"Our worker safety is taken very seriously," says Bob Sanders, security manager at the plant. "We have fire, security, card access, and toxic gas monitoring systems." Philips Semiconductors' goal is to maintain nonstop production capability in a very safe and secure work environment.
Industrywide, the semiconductor manufacturing process uses a number of toxic gases and chemicals -- gases such as diborane, arsine, phosphine, and silane are a standard part of semiconductor creation. They are stored in special compressed gas cylinder cabinets throughout the manufacturing areas and piped to equipment in the cleanrooms. Besides being highly toxic, some of the gases are also pyrophoric and could cause an explosion. Semiconductor manufacturing environments, thus, demand extensive and reliable monitoring systems.
New Controls Meet the Systems Challenge
While Philips Semiconductors has always had extensive safety and security monitoring systems, disparate systems did cause complications. "We had a multitude of different monitoring systems," says Sanders. "We had various pieces of equipment that reported back to the security control center where we have one security officer who was responsible for monitoring all these points on multiple pieces of equipment and screens."
Besides the complexity issue, there was a functionality problem. When an event occurred that activated a warning system, the security staff would manually gather information to initiate a response. "But what we had to do was not only manually look up procedures and instructions, but then send somebody down to the alarm unit to get the value and relate it to that alarm," explains Sanders. "We knew what type of event, as in the case of a toxic gas alarm, but somebody from the response team would have to stay by the monitoring equipment and relay the readings to the emergency response team (ERT). In 1996 I began looking for something to make our responses more efficient. I wanted a unit that would integrate these different systems into one head-end."
Entech Sales and Service, Inc, the local Tour Andover Controls representative, designed and installed a new building controls network that dramatically affected operations at the Albuquerque plant. The solution not only eliminated the complications of the old system, but also delivered exceptional new operational capabilities. Since then, Entech has continued to assist Philips Semiconductors with system upgrades as part of the facilitation of two new clean room modules, and also with their special needs for programming and expanding monitoring capabilities.
Now, the security control center has one interface -- a Tour Andover Controls' Continuum CyberStation™ -- resulting in improved safety and efficiency. It controls and monitors every critical system: toxic gas monitoring, fire alarm system monitoring, and security. From open doors to air quality monitoring, from the lobby to the parking lot, the system creates one controls universe in one interface that monitors over 2,000 alarm points.
Air Quality Monitoring
Toxic and hazardous production materials mean that gas monitoring is a very critical system in the building. Numerous gas cabinets are placed in the Sub FABs and gas bunkers located away from the production area for safety and maintenance. From here compressed gases and chemicals are dispensed to the manufacturing process equipment. The MDA Scientific Toxic Gas Monitoring System™ by Zellweger Analytic not only samples air quality, but also the process equipment in the cleanrooms. Moreover, it is also able to detect a chemical leak or spill.
Should there be a toxic gas alarm, Continuum CyberStation would provide an onscreen alarm, instantly display the incident location on a building layout, and deliver response instructions. The control center security officer would then send another officer to investigate and notify the clean room ERT via pager.
"The nice thing about the Tour Andover system and the interface we've created with the gas monitoring equipment is that we get real-time analog values," says Sanders. "We actually see the level of gas and the readings. After a response has been sent out and the problem is being investigated, we can actually see the real-time results of our response efforts." In addition, security and safety personnel can shut down any point in the gas system, from the cabinets to the machines.
In the case that an event might affect an entire clean room, the system would automatically sound multiple audible evacuation alarms, shut down affected gas sources, and send out a page to the ERT and security team. Upon arriving to the suspected leak or spill area, the ERT would use one of four Continuum Limelight™ workstations to view the exact alarm event and the OSHA MSDS sheets for detected gases or chemicals. Limelight is a thin client user interface that allows operators to control and monitor their buildings right from a standard PC. Based on the materials identified by the gas monitoring equipment, the system can actually provide the correct MSDS sheets.
"As a result of this system, Philips Semiconductors is able to help ensure the safety and security of the work environment," says Sanders.
Security and Fire Systems
Safety and security have always been high priorities at the plant, with card access controlling entry to more than 62 doors, including the main lobby, the visitor lobby, special areas, and the parking lot. Four Continuum CyberStations, two Episuite™ photo badging stations, and HID proximity readers deliver security and access for more than 1,500 employees and contractors, as well as a comprehensive interface for officers.
Continuum CyberStation enables the security officer to view critical access points from multiple cameras. Digital video recording is accomplished through Intellex™ 16-channel digital recording units, currently being integrated with the Andover system. As an individual uses an access card, all information from the card is displayed along with live video from the access point and the photo on the card.
"With Tour Andover, we'll be able to have remote video monitoring, which will allow us to monitor and review video from any of our properly configured workstations in the facility, not just at the control center," notes Sanders. "Instead of interrupting security officers who might be in the middle of a situation, I can go to another workstation and bring up the video."
The Edwards fire alarm system, with hundreds of points, is also integrated with Continuum. Before the Tour Andover system, Sanders and his team used a complex collection of equipment to monitor these alarms.
"The new system allows us to not only monitor those alarms, but initiate a response by clicking a button on the screen," he says. "We can evacuate one or more areas, a floor, or the entire facility." Continuum provides complete control and backup monitoring of all the security and fire-life safety systems from not only the security control center, but from any properly configured PC or Limelight workstation on the secure network.
The Benefits of Controls Integration
The Tour Andover Controls system has been extremely reliable, and Sanders and his team are quite pleased.
"Entech has done a great job. The system is a tremendous upgrade to maintain a safe and secure workplace," he says. "The programming and the software are the secret to our system. Entech has come up with some very innovative programs and was able to use the protocols supplied by third-party manufacturers and integrate them into the Tour Andover system. We've also had a lot of positive comments from the ERT from the information on the Limelight workstations.
"The system works exactly as planned," explains Sanders. "First and foremost, it helps us provide a very safe and secure work environment. Additionally our security folks love it because it's so much easier to use. Our emergency response team is very happy with it because it gives them real-time information. It makes their job a lot easier."
Now that safety and security situations are managed more efficiently and accurately, "there's a tremendous cost savings," says Sanders. "We're taking actions based on real events and eliminating many opportunities for false alarms. The system is so much more robust and dependable than our old systems. At a considerable cost for each hour a clean room is down for an evacuation, the return on investment (ROI) is quite rapid."
With Tour Andover Controls equipment and the excellent service from Entech, Philips Semiconductors can be assured of a safe and stable environment and concentrate on what it does best -- supplying good semiconductor chips to its customers.
