Welcome to another blog in our ongoing series, Ask Lewis Bass!

This series features actual submitted questions from companies in the industries we provide engineering safety consulting services to.

Topics covered include those associated with our work in 3rd party field labeling, SEMI S2/S8/EMC/F47 testing and design, CE Marking evaluations, and general engineering questions.

Question:

Hi Lewis Bass,

Our deadline for delivering our newest semiconductor machine to our client is really tight.

We want to make sure this machine has the best chance of passing SEMI S2/S8 evaluations on its first evaluation.

What should I be aware of on my end to make sure the machine is in the best possible condition for this evaluation?

Asked by Martine in Springfield, NJ

Lewis Bass:

Hello Martine,

Thanks for reaching out to Lewis Bass with this great question regarding machine and site visit preparation for a SEMI S2/S8 evaluation.

Having performed hundreds of these types of evaluations in the past decade alone, I feel that we have compiled a suitable short-list of the most common machine preparation deficiencies for you to consider in your preparations below:

1. Having a Seismic Analysis performed on the machine. Some of our clients have this work done “in-house” if they happen to have someone with the aptitude of a civil/mechanical engineer. However, it is most common for companies to hire out for this type of service.
2. Ventilation Analysis, ensuring one is completed by a competent authority before the field engineer gets to your facility.
3. Chemical(s) Analysis, to ensure compatibility with other elements involved with the tool.
4. Oxygen deficient monitoring, if you use nitrogen or other inert gasses that displace oxygen, make sure you monitor for it, and interlock appropriately until oxygen levels are proper.
5. Having complete machine operation manuals drafted up for the field engineer’s review. This is a struggle for many companies we have worked with in the past. If they are complete, it will speed up the delivery of the final SEMI S2 report. We’ve had other clients use http://www.techdocsunlimited.com/ for writing their SEMI manuals and they turned out pretty good, too.

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