The unique nature of the integrated circuit industry

The integrated circuit industry is a “microelectronics” industry. “Micro” is not easy to display in the finished products. The specific products are invisible to the naked eye. Unlike cars, airplanes, televisions, plastics, paper, lamps, etc., everyone is familiar with the subconscious. It is more acceptable. Integrated circuits must be visible only with a microscope. Even so, there is no professional training. Therefore, it is not easy to understand and difficult to accept.

The production technology is complex and the proportion of technical backbone is high IC industry is the most typical "high-tech" industry, and its production technology is the most complex. Not only does the process take up to four or five hundred steps, but almost every step involves the most basic physics, chemistry and its derived sciences, such as: materials science, electronics, optics, organic chemistry, surface science, electromechanics Control etc. This is because the physical parameters such as the thickness, width, and depth of the product structure are only a few hundred, even dozens of nanometers, and the accuracy of these parameters is even finer to nanometer or? For the unit... it's even been to the size of the atom! Therefore, not only the professional backbone of technology must be diverse, but also have a large number of people, and the proportion of operators relative to operators is much higher than that of the general industry.

Positive feedback between production tools and products Although the industrial technology of integrated circuits has been deepened and the production process has been very complicated, but for more than 40 years, the technology still advances by Moore's Law every one and a half to two years! This rate of progress is not what other manufacturing industries have. One of the main reasons why the author believes this to be the case is that there is a positive feedback relationship between IC production tools and their products. This means that new integrated circuit products produced by this generation of production tools can be used. A new generation of production tools that can improve the performance of the original production tool and have better performance can produce more advanced integrated circuit products. More advanced integrated circuits can be used again to improve the performance of next-generation production tools! This cycle is one of the main reasons why Moore's Law has been achieved (in addition to the application of new technologies and new materials).

Large value-added processing/low turnover rate compared to traditional assembly manufacturing, integrated circuit production is not only technically complex, but also has long production processes and production processes. Depending on the type of product, the number of production processes ranges from a few hundred to a few, and as many as four to five hundred. The production process is as short as two to three weeks and the length is two to three months. Therefore, the added value of processing is much larger than the direct material and labor costs, and accounts for about 50 to 70 percent of the production cost, which is much larger than the 10 percent value of processing added value of traditional industries. Therefore, the capital turnover rate is much smaller. The annual turnover rate of wafer foundry is less than one time, and the traditional industry can have several times to dozens of times a year!

Due to the large difference in the cost structure of the two, the operating methods will inevitably be very different. This is why it is difficult for traditional industry operators to understand the IC industry. In Taiwan’s early years when the government promoted the integrated circuit industry, the operators of traditional industries responded coldly, and the participants who were finally convinced also paid a great price. After long-term “on-the-job training”, they lost a lot of money. After touching the industry's tips, the company's operations are on track!

Integrated circuits are the foundation of modernization and the rice industry. IC has always been China's largest import and trade deficit product. As the world's manufacturing center in mainland China, this phenomenon will sooner or later change. In the future, a large number of IC manufacturing plants will be built. A correct understanding of the characteristics of the industry will inevitably increase the efficiency of the operation.