SEMI International Standards
Standards New Activity Report Form (SNARF)
Date Prepared: 10/20/2011Revised (if Applicable):

Document Number: 5339
SNARF for: Specification for Single Material Tracking and Tracing For Crystalline Silicon PV

Originating Global Technical Committee: Automation Technology
Originating TC Chapter: Europe
Task Force (TF) in which work is to be carried out: Equipment Interface Specification (EIS)
Note: If a new task force is needed, also submit a task force organization form (TFOF)

___________________________________________________________________________
1. Rationale:
a. Describe the need or problem addressed by this activity.
(Indicate the customer, what benefits they will receive, and if possible, quantify the impact on the return on investment [ROI] if the Document is implemented.)
Looking into today’s crystalline photovoltaic production lines, there is an increasing need to improve the mass production and to achieve the best possible quality for each final product.

Tasks, such as equipment efficiency monitoring, material-related quality check during the whole production process, a blanket transparency of all process steps as well as equipment and at least the comprehensive comparability of equipment.

In 03/2009 SEMI PV02 was defined. Since this time it became applied globally in PV industry.
This standard was a big milestone, but nevertheless it excluded e.g. any kind of material related information.
This was mainly due to a non existence of an equipment to equipment communication (horizontal communication for adjacent / in-line equipment) at this time which is an important prerequisite.
This problem is now solved with the standards that are currently in development (#4804, #5153 and #5154).
At present there exists no standardized concept in the photovoltaic industry how to get material-related-data from the tool and how to ensure that all equipment report the same ID for a single material.

There are two basic approaches for single material tracking:
Single material tracking based on physical IDs (standardization actually in progress – document #5074 and #5152) or on virtual IDs.
Physical IDs need additional reader hardware and may not be readable all the time (within the time slot that is defined by the troughput of an equipment and the resulting cycle time), but they are unique for the lifetime of the material (traceability).
Virtual IDs doesn’t need additional hardware, but the range of validity is usually limited till a material is leaving a compound / cluster of in-line / adjacent equipment. Furthermore virtual IDs need to rely on a specific material order inside an equipment which is validated by sensorical information. External influences (e.g exchanging material) also limit the possibilities of tracking based on virtual IDs.

In the current industry single material tracking is used either purely based on virtual IDs or in combination with physical IDs (to validate the correctness of the tracking).
In any way – both mechanisms will have their relevance in the fture, but there is actually no consistent concept standardized which material related data has to be delivered from equipment to host system (MES) nor from equipment to equipment to realize a single material tracking.

This gap is being addressed by this activity.


b. Estimate effect on industry.
2: Major effect on an industry sector - identify the relevant sector
Sector or Company Information:

c. Estimate technical difficulty of the activity.
II: Some Difficulty - Disagreements on known requirements exist but developing consensus is possible

___________________________________________________________________________
2. Scope:
a: Describe the technical areas to be covered or addressed by this Document development activity. For Subordinate Standards, list common concepts or criteria that the Subordinate Standard inherits from the Primary Standard, as well as differences from the Primary Standard:
The focus of this activity is to develop a standard that defines a unified concept for single material tracking based on virtual and/or physical material IDs to be applied in crystalline photovoltaic industry. The standard will rely on proven technology (protocol) defined in SEMI PV02 (SECS/GEM).

This means in detail:
- Definition and description of the concept itself (taking into account the usage of virtual IDs, physical IDs or a combination of both) and its prerequisites (like horizontal communication and physically identifiable container for single material).
- Definition of all data mandatory for a single material tracking (definition of required Collection Events and Variables (Data Variable or Status Variables) which also includes data from a physical material ID reader)
- Definition where (location) and when (time) this data needs to be exchanged between equipment and host (MES)

b: Expected result of activity
New Standard or Safety Guideline (including replacement of an existing Standard or Safety Guideline)

For a new Subordinate Standard, identify the Primary Standard here:




For Standards, identify the Standard Subtype below:


Miscellaneous (describe below):

___________________________________________________________________________
3. Projected Timetable for Completion:

a: General Milestones
a. Activity Start: 10/01/2011b. 1st Draft by: 06/01/2012
c. (Optional) Informational Ballot by: d. Letter Ballot by: 08/01/2012
e. TC Chapter Approval By:10/01/2012

_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Liaisons with other Global Technical Committees/TC Chapters/Subcommittees/TFs:
a. List SEMI global technical committees, TC Chapters, subcommittees, or task forces in your or other Regions/Locales that should be kept informed regarding the progress of this activity. (Refer to SEMI Standards organization charts and global technical committee charters and scopes as needed.)
Traceability TF, Global PV EIS Task Force, Global PV Automation Committee, Global PV Committee, Global I&C Committee

b. List any planned Type I Liaisons with external nonprofit organizations (e.g., SDO) that should receive Draft Documents from Standards staff for feedback during this activity and be notified when the Letter Ballot is issued (refer to Procedure Manual § 7):


c. Intercommittee Ballots:


Identify the recipient global technical committee(s):

___________________________________________________________________________
5. Safety Considerations:
The resulting document is expected:
NOT to be a Safety Guideline

NOTE FOR "to be a Safety Guideline": When all safety-related information is removed from the Document, the Document is NOT technically sound and complete - Refer to Section 15.1 of the Regulations for special procedures to be followed.

NOTE FOR "NOT to be a Safety Guideline": When all safety-related information is removed from the Document, the Document is still technically sound and complete.

___________________________________________________________________________
6. Intellectual Property Considerations:
Note: Both a: and b: below should be checked for Revision of existing Standard(s) and Safety Guideline(s).

a. For a new Standard or Safety Guideline and for any part to be modified or added in a Revision of published Standards and Safety Guidelines:


If "patented technology is intended to be included in the proposed Standard(s) or Safety Guideline(s) " is selected above, then also check one:


b. For Revision, Reapproval, Reinstatement, or Withdrawal of existing Standard(s) and Safety Guideline(s):


c. The body of the Document and any Appendices, Complementary Files, Related Information sections, or Various Materials that may or may not be a part of the Document by reference:



NOTE FOR ‘the use of patented technology or the incorporation of Copyrighted Item(s) is NOT required’: If in the course of developing the Document, it is determined that the use of patented technology or Copyrighted Item(s) is necessary for the Document, the provisions of Regulations § 16 must be followed.

NOTE FOR ’will incorporate Copyrighted Item’: A copyright release letter must be obtained from the copyright owner prior to publication.

___________________________________________________________________________
7. Comments, Special Circumstances:
None.

__________________________________________________________________________
8. TC Member Review:


Member Review Start Date; None.
Member Review End Date: None.

NOTE FOR ‘TC Member Review’ is required by the Regulations for a period of at least two weeks
before approval of a new, or a major revision of an existing, Standard or Safety Guideline. (Refer to Regulations ¶ 8.2.1)
__________________________________________________________________________

9. SNARF Approval Dates:
TC Chapter or GCS10/11/0211
Recorded in TC Minutes

__________________________________________________________________________

10. SNARF Extension Dates:
TC Chapter Extension Granted on
Extension Expires on