Which is the right yield management system for you?

You have decided that now is the right time to upgrade your yield management system and you don’t want to do it yourself, so you’re faced with a difficult decision: There are various vendors on the market that claim to have a yield analysis solution for you. But which one is the right choice for you?

Let’s have a look at a few aspects that may affect your decision:

PRICE & TERMS

Pricing should have the lowest impact on your decision – which may surprise you – and I am writing this even though DR YIELD is a cost leader in yield management systems. But the benefits that the right yield analysis software will provide for your organization will far outweigh the costs. So, if you’ve concluded that a particular yield management solution is the right choice for you, then the price should not affect your ultimate decision.

You might also ask whether a payment is required upfront, or whether the vendor is confident enough to offer a yield management solution that you only pay for once it has been successfully installed.

TECHNOLOGY & FEATURES

In terms of technology, there are two key questions:

1.      Is it a cloud solution, or installed on premises? Which are my requirements?

2.      Does the vendor own all the technology used, or do they rely on third-party libraries, tool sets or developers?

It’s important to research whether a vendor owns the technology and employs a yield software developer team because they will be able to reliably create and implement your preferred features – which is not always possible if third-party tools or external developers are being used.

Another aspect is the age of the technology used: There are several tools on the market that are based on technology that has passed its prime. This, on its own, is not necessarily an argument against a certain tool, but if you want to benefit (now and in the future) from the latest features like advanced pattern recognition, machine learning or graph-theory-based tool combination analyses, you may want to look for yield analysis software that is not only still supported, but is being actively and continuously developed further. At DR YIELD, we do not only the “D” in R&D, but also the “R” – and with a research quota of about 27% (according to Frascati criteria), we are certainly an innovation leader.

SUPPORT

Yield software does not run isolated on your desktop – instead, it is embedded in the complex semiconductor manufacturing environment of different data sources and with numerous interfaces to other tools. Yield analysis software can be critical in dealing with or preventing the next yield excursion in your organization, therefore solid support for this system is essential. Ask yield software vendors how they handle support issues – and then ask some of their customers about their experience with the vendors’ support. Only a well-supported yield management solution will be able to fulfill your yield analytics needs for many years to come – and enhance the development and growth of your semiconductor manufacturing operations.