NFAB^SM Equipment Support Services

With more than 20 years of experience supporting OEMs, our NFAB℠ equipment support services focus on supporting equipment whether during the setup process or with routine maintenance activities. Our “Right First Time” approach to conducting maintenance activities ensures maximum uptime and consistent equipment performance. Our “Safety Spotter” programs provide independent oversight to all personnel working on your equipment allowing a “Safety First” focus. We provide flexible, qualified technical resources and service solutions to support you and optimize the deployment of your personnel.

Equipment Setup

Managing Equipment From Dock to Fab Placement

As part of our equipment support services, we offer equipment setup services that facilitate the entire equipment arrival process from dock to fab placement. We work with you as well as OEMs to ensure your equipment is set up efficiently, in alignment with your project goals and to your specification. Our equipment setup service optimizes resources for OEMs and fabs by focusing on the specific scope of work – releasing your personnel to focus on other activities.

Our project management experience and in-house tracking software, NTrack^SM, allows us to provide online access to detailed reporting, tracking of project activity, and up-to-date milestone progress. We also establish procedures and documentation that are integrated into the OEM’s and IDM’s project structure to meet their specific requirements, whilst also being mindful of flexibility for various requirements of tools and site owners.

We enable you to focus your resources where you need them most, while we focus on equipment placement and ancillary equipment hook-ups. With our equipment setup service, you can expect us to:

Monitor the arrival of your equipment to the loading dock with fab shipping and receiving personnel
Complete an inventory of shipping containers as they arrive to ensure that all critical components have been received
Coordinate the transfer of your equipment with equipment riggers to the pre-fab setup area for detailed cleaning

Assist the riggers with the placement of your process equipment and ancillary support equipment in the fab
Level process equipment
Place and level ancillary equipment in the proper position
Provide safety spotters to proactively identify, assess, and address potential safety hazards in the workplace

Equipment Hook-Up

From Fab Placement to Connected and Ready for Power

Tool installation in the fab requires the hook-up of electrical wiring, gas lines, and vacuum. However, there is ancillary equipment that also needs proper placement and connection to the primary process equipment to optimize performance. In most cases, hooking up ancillary equipment does not require the expertise of a fab technician, fab equipment engineer, OEM field service engineer, electrician, or plumber. Yet, these resources are often utilized for these types of connections at considerable expense.

With our equipment hook-up services, we can address this gap in resources and service, making ancillary equipment hook-ups more cost-effective and efficient. We use our project management expertise and NTRACK^SM project management software to keep you informed every step of the way. You can expect us to:

Run lines, cables, cords, hoses, etc. between equipment (mainframe) and support equipment, e.g., chillers, RF rack, and more
Coordinate with OEM and fab points-of-contact to ensure the placement of interconnects are in the proper layout
Source materials, if required
Interface with trades as required

Equipment Preventative Maintenance

Extending Your Equipment and Process Efficiencies

Preventative maintenance is vital for semiconductor fab tools, ensuring optimal performance and longevity. By detecting and addressing issues early on, it prevents costly breakdowns and production delays. Regular equipment support activities like chamber cleaning, alignment checks, and leak checking maintain accuracy and consistency in the fabrication process. Additionally, preventative maintenance extends the tools’ operational lifespan, protecting the significant investment they represent. By implementing a proactive maintenance strategy, you can maximize productivity, minimize financial losses, and achieve a higher return on investment.

Though clearly an important part of the asset lifecycle management process, preventative maintenance can often at times be repetitive and time-consuming for internal teams. When we take complete ownership of these support activities in partnership with OEMs, we allow our customers to focus on activity where their training and experience can add more value. Furthermore, with formal legacy support contracts in place we can also support older generations of equipment allowing you to allocate your resources on latest generation technology. You can expect our skilled technicians to:

Perform routine, thorough inspections to SOPs
Clean tool surfaces and remove debris
Report accurately and efficiently
Execute effective repairs

Inspect and replace worn out components
Check calibration of measurement instruments
Test safety features and emergency shutdown systems

Why Us?

Our Added Value

With more than 20 years of experience supporting OEMs, our always-on NFAB^SM equipment support services ensure maximum uptime, equipment performance, and yields. By partnering with WGNSTAR, you will have access to a pool of skilled technicians with expertise in hooking up, maintaining, and troubleshooting complex equipment. This reduces the burden on your internal teams, freeing them to focus on core competencies and strategic initiatives. Additionally, partnering with us offers scalability and flexibility, allowing you to adapt to fluctuating equipment support needs.

Based on well-documented processes and procedures, our project and contract-based NFAB equipment support services are designed to fit your needs and help manage your workflows. With our NFAB equipment support services, you can expect:

24/7 Maintenance
High quality and reliable service from qualified fab engineers and technicians

Parts assessment and reuse
Cleaning and kitting
Logistics programs

Want to learn more about your options?

We understand that each company has different reasons for hiring, staffing, and outsourcing operational activity, and we will take the time to learn yours. Our team is standing by to hear more about your specific needs and develop a plan that is tailored to support your business goals.

Asset Lifecycle Management Services

Customized to Your Operations to Support Your Business Goals

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