ENHANCING PROCESS EFFICIENCY AND COST SAVING IN BAG-AND-SEAL PROCESS USING A DMAIC APPROACH: A CASE STUDY IN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING FACTORY

Abstract

The Bag and Seal (BNS) process protects moisture-sensitive substrates before chip attach. In the current method, substrates are moved from liquid crystal polymer (LCP) tray to thermal form tray (TFT) for sealing and then returned to LCP trays, which requires ACL tools and leads to TFT deformation, long cycle time, and scrap cost. This study would examine whether BNS could be done directly on LCP trays to remove these transfer steps. Using a DMAIC approach with design of experiment (DOE) testing, inventory review, quality checks, and routing updates, LCP trays were shown to be stable with no out-of-pocket events. The new process would reduce handling time from 45 minutes to 5 minutes per lot, eliminates USD 42,142 in yearly TFT scrap, and removes ACL tool usage. The updated routes improve responsiveness and lower operational workload while still meeting moisture exposure time (MET0) limits and protecting substrate quality. Overall, LCP tray BNS is a simpler, cost-saving, and scalable method for substrate preparation.