Quality Applications

StatSoft Inc.'s STATISTICA Enterprisewide SPC System Benefits Comprehensive, optimized and flexible database structure Central management Automatic report generation and WebSEWSS Completely Web-enabled user interface www.statsoft.com

StatSoft SPC Software Supports Semiconductor Sites
StatSoft Inc.'s STATISTICA Enterprisewide SPC System

Photronics manufactures photomasks, high-precision quartz plates that contain microscopic images of electronic circuits. To guarantee the quality of the products it manufactures, Photronics recently deployed StatSoft Inc.'s STATISTICA Enterprisewide SPC System. Photronics initially utilized SEWSS at six sites internationally, but plans to add several more sites soon.

 Key elements in the manufacture of semiconductors, photomasks are used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers during the fabrication of integrated circuits. They're produced in accordance with circuit designs provided by customers at manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and North America. As such, Photronics management recognized the need for an enterprisewide SPC system and conducted a thorough investigation of several such packages.

 "Because of the high-precision nature of the semiconductor manufacturing industry, it's important that we control our products and processes to ensure the quality of the photomasks that we ship to our customers," notes Barbara Manville, director of corporate software development for Photronics. "We selected SEWSS for its ease of integration with our existing manufacturing execution system and because it provides flexibility beyond our existing systems."

 SEWSS gives Photronics an efficient, reliable and cost-effective solution for processing and integrating its data. Resulting from StatSoft's extensive expertise with real-world SPC applications, SEWSS is an integrated multiuser software package that provides a central database and all tools necessary to process and manage data from multiple channels and coordinate the work of multiple operators, quality control engineers and supervisors.

 The implementation of SEWSS has been coupled with a rigorous SPC training program for the quality and engineering departments. The training focuses on the comprehensive analytical tools in the STATISTICA Analysis Pack, which includes hundreds of statistical analyses and graphs. Additional training will be provided for the Advanced Statistics modules and the Automated Data Collection modules of SEWSS. By standardizing its statistical analysis tools enterprisewide and providing thorough training for its employees, Photronics will be able to share gains in the quality improvement process between manufacturing sites.