It was so great to travel to APAC for most of May 2024 and dial into the High-tech Manufacturing (HTM) industry in Japan and Korea. Leading-edge manufacturing companies in the region like Samsung and TSMC are pushing the technological limits of manufacturing, including making 3nm chips for mobile phones. 3nm is 30,000 times smaller than a human hair! These nanochips use the movement of atoms for switching current and applying electronic processes.
In addition to such Logic chips or processors that run phones and computers, other leading manufacturers in the region create chips for Memory or DRAM (short-term memory), and flash or NAND, which remembers data across time. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron (US-based) dominate DRAM production; and Samsung, SK Hynix, Kioxia/WD, and Micron dominate NAND production. Demand for cutting-edge DRAM chips with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is sky-high right now. For example, Samsung just reported a 15X increase in Q2 profit, based on strong demand for AI products.
Most NAND chips (and analog chips) are produced on processors 180 nm or greater. Fabs in this category require far less upfront investment than logic and memory chips, which must continuously shrink transistor size to stay on the cutting edge. The biggest analog chipmakers are American, Japanese, and European (e.g., Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and Skyworks in the US and global; Infineon and ST Micro in Europe, and Renesas in Japan).
Did you know that Spotfire is widely recognized as a leading Visual Data Science application in high-tech manufacturing? Manufacturers around the world, including Logic, DRAM, NAND, and analog chipmakers use Spotfire for yield optimization, defect analysis, product testing, equipment, and process management. Companies that provide the controllers, sensors, chemicals, and equipment for manufacturers also use Spotfire. It was fascinating to speak with engineers from all these manufacturers and equipment companies and to understand what it takes to make the products that drive our electronic world.
In addition to the intellectually stimulating micro world of HTM, I also appreciate the amazing food in Japan!! My goodness, I should write a blog just on this topic! From this amazing Sardine dinner with NTT Com Online upon arriving in Japan, to the superb sushi restaurant in Shinagawa…It felt like I was channeling Anthony Bourdain!
The Sardines at a traditional Japanese Izakaya restaurant were in many formats, including full skeletons—so healthy and a great way to get extra calcium.
This photo with our NTT Com Online leader Yoshie Tsukamoto captures the energy of the post-dinner moment:
Special Spotfire seminar with NTT Com Online
While in Japan, I presented at a special seminar with NTT Com Online. Spotfire has enjoyed a strong partnership with NTT Com Online and its ecosystem for the past five years. We have some large Spotfire customers in Japan, especially in high-tech manufacturing.
Opening remarks
Yoshie Tsukamoto, President & CEO of NTT Com Online
Yoshie-san shared that Spotfire achieved the No. 1 domestic market share in the manufacturing BI market for the last four consecutive years in Japan and was recognized for significantly promoting the development of smart factories. NTT Com Online collaborates closely with the Spotfire team to support Spotfire in optimizing manufacturing yield.
New frontiers in visual data science
Michael O’Connell, Chief Analytics Officer, Spotfire
In my keynote session, I introduced the latest trends in visual data science—diving deep into Spotfire® Visualization Mods, Spotfire® Data Functions, Spotfire® Apps, analytics case studies, and new features of Spotfire. I also provided an update on the fast-moving Spotfire Copilot, a forward-looking Spotfire roadmap, and a tour of the Spotfire Community.
I showcased the new Spotfire Wafer Defect Analysis. This application uses a set of Spotfire data functions and visualizations to calculate and visualize many types of associations and correlations across all wafers, from in-line measurements to final Binmap tests. Spotfire calculates and renders visuals on big data very rapidly. This is important when analyzing many wafers with many die / wafer, throughout the manufacturing processes. The interactive yield maps, associations, and correlations among many quantitative measurements enable users to zero in on defects and identify spatial and temporal yield patterns. Process and yield engineers can clearly observe the time series of visual wafer maps, zero in on where and when defects occurred, and assess potential root causes. Visual Data Science in action.
The practice of parametric testing with Spotfire
Takeki Ando, Chief Engineer, TI, Miho Factory Texas Instruments Japan
Parametric testing is the process of forming all the elements and wiring used in an integrated circuit as components, measuring the characteristics of the elements to determine whether each element is completed as designed, and making a judgment as to whether it is good or bad. In this session, Takeki Ando explained what parametric testing should be in a mass-production semiconductor factory and how Spotfire is used.
With more than 35 years of experience in logic and power semiconductors, Takeki Ando has worked in a wide range of technical areas of semiconductor test and manufacturing. He is responsible for engineering in various technical areas such as device failure analysis, process control, and power device test technology. Texas Instruments is the world’s top analog IC supplier, and they are extremely skilled in parametric testing.
Closing remarks
Mitake-san introduced free training content, seminars, and support that NTT Com Online and the Spotfire team can offer to end users. The Spotfire seminar in Tokyo was a great success!
Spotfire Copilot augments intelligence in Japanese
Since the release of Spotfire CopilotTM in 2023, we have received numerous inquiries from Spotfire customers expressing a keen interest in trying it. The Spotfire Copilot provides our customers with a new experience and significantly boosts their productivity through the power of LLMs. Jingchuan showcased the Copilot’s ability to understand and respond to questions in various local languages, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, during this tour. The multilingual support opens up new possibilities for a wider range of Spotfire users to interact and collaborate.
Jingchuan showcased the Spotfire Copilot, including sending questions in Japanese for auto-chart generation and explanation:
NTT Com Online’s Spotfire team is now investigating the Spotfire Copilot tool for use in customer applications. You can contact them for an introduction or a demo. They would appreciate the feedback on effectively using Spotfire Copilot in the Japanese market.
Getting to know the team
I felt thankful for the warm welcome at the seminar and especially grateful to the customers who took flights from other areas of Japan to visit Tokyo and attend the Spotfire Seminar. We discussed many topics, including human-centered AI processes to guide and refine visual data science insights using Spotfire. It was amazing to meet all the different companies across the manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem—to understand what they do, and how they use Spotfire. It takes a village.
Join our global community
It was so exciting to see teams from around the world using the latest in Spotfire to help power their high-tech manufacturing use cases. To be a part of our global group of users, sign up for the Spotfire Community today, where you can download extensions like Spotfire CopilotTM or other industry-specific accelerators and applications.
Follow my LinkedIn to see where I go next with Spotfire!