Gases & Instrumentation, Cover Story – Reducing Costs Using Wireless Sensors for Cylinder Monitoring

Posted February 1st 2010

Micrel owns a 150mm fab with a capacity of 30,000 wafer starts per month. The fab was constructed in the 1980s and is considered a legacy fab without the full benefits of current automation technology. The company constantly assesses technology upgrades to reduce cost and improve productivity in order to keep their competitive edge. Managing the use of process gases, which is labor intensive and prone to gas shortages and/or waste, was identified as a key area of potential improvement.