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CASE STUDY

Simulating Fab Business Improvement at BAE SYSTEMS

Process simulation and modelling using Lanner's WITNESS application has helped BAE SYSTEMS to make dramatic improvements to the production of advanced imaging devices at its semiconductor-type manufacturing facility (known as a FAB) near Towcester, Northamptonshire. WITNESS has been integral to a business improvement programme that has halved product cycle times and increased capacity of some processes by more than 50 per cent. "At first we did not believe the improvements that WITNESS was showing we could make," says Miles Wallis, Process Engineer at BAE SYSTEMS. "About 50 per cent of the business improvement can be directly attributed to WITNESS." Success Leads to Increased Production Requirement BAE SYSTEMS at Towcester design and manufacture pyroelectric uncooled infra-red detector arrays for use in a range of civil, industrial and military applications. The arrays incorporate a combination of silicon and ceramic based chips and are amongst the most advanced of their kind in the world. A typical application is in the detectors used by rescue teams to locate survivors of recent earthquakes buried alive under collapsed buildings.
" We have reduced the overall cycle time from 90 to 35 days," says Miles Wallis. "Identifying key steps has led to a 60 per cent increase in the capacity of the ceramic stages of the process alone”. Production volumes at the FAB are relatively low compared with semiconductors used in consumer products, although demand for the high value devices has been increasing as more applications have been designed around the product's unique performance characteristics.
Lanner Group Limited The Oaks, Clews Road, Redditch Worcestershire, B98 7ST, U.K. Phone: +44 (0) 1527 403400 Email: info@lanner.co.uk BAE SYSTEMS Electronics Process Improvement Reduced Lead Times

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