STATISTICS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY - A COMPETITIVE NECESSITY

SEMATECH is a consortium founded in 1987 by the U.S. government and the major U.S. semiconductor manufacturing companies. From the beginning, the use of applied statistics was integrated within all the process and tool improvement projects within SEMATECH, creating a partnership between statisticians and engineers and technicians. Statisticians have learned about semiconductor manufacturing and engineers have learned about statistics so they can communicate and work together effectively. The SEMATECH Qualification Plan is a key document that has helped create and enforce this team approach to experimentation and data collection and data analysis. Application of the Qualification Plan is illustrated through an actual case history.