HERNDON, VA -- iNEMI has issued a call for participation for participants in a new program on packaging equipment requirements.

The consortium will outline the project's scope and plans in a webinar next week.

The meeting is open to the industry. Click here for call-in information.

Over the past decade, semiconductor packages, equipment and manufacturing complexity have risen dramatically. IC makers have responded by increasing their specific equipment requirements, but have not developed a consistent set of industry-wide requirements for precompetitive needs, iNEMI said. This has resulted in semi-custom solutions from equipment suppliers that increase cost, lead to integration or quality issues upon installation, and inconsistently meet common industry needs.

The objective of this project is to align IC maker and equipment supplier requirements and drive industry convergence in the following areas:

• Equipment software automation.
• Equipment electro-static discharge (ESD) capabilities and test methods.
• Material handling systems (MHS) capabilities and test methods.
• Conservation efforts to reduce consumption (e.g., power, water, gas, etc.) and emissions (e.g., waste water, gas, etc.).

The project goals are to:

• Develop a common set of requirements and targets that can be universally understood.
• Define instrumentation specifications and methods to validate equipment requirements.
• Classify which types of packaging assembly equipment require which standards to provide clarity to equipment suppliers.

iNEMI membership is required to participate in the project.