Definition of the Problem

Original Project Description

Background

Intel is known for creating semiconductor memory devices, i.e. chips. Intel makes its money by creating chips for people who need them: distributors, original equipment manufacturers of computer systems and peripherals, PC users who buy Intel’s PC enhancements, and makers of industrial and telecommunications equipment (www.intel.com).

The technology involved in the chip manufacturing process has increased dramatically within the last decade. The chip fabrication process has evolved from a human interaction process to a completely automated one, using high-tech tools and machines.

An ‘automations specialist’ is responsible for designing software to control these manufacturing tools. SECSIMPro is the standard software created by GW Associates that is used by many companies to compile SECS Message Language (SML) and SECS Script Language (SSL) files to be used in the testing and controlling of these tools.

Currently at Intel, all SECSIMPro (SSP) scripts are hand-written, which is a tedious and time-consuming process. In order to expedite the script creation/test process, Intel would like to have a graphical script-editing tool that can be used to easily create SML and SSL scripts.

Business Issues

As with most chip manufacturers, the main goal of the Intel Corporation is to make money. To do this, Intel needs to get its chips out on the market before other companies. The following ordered list outlines Intel’s money making strategies:

  1. Increase the speed of chip production
  2. Reduce the production costs
  3. Create chips with the desired functionality
  4. Create faster chips
  5. Create reliable chips
  6. Create smaller-sized chips
  7. Create chips with reduced power consumption

Since increasing the speed of production is the most important step in making money, automation is a crucial competitive factor for Intel.

Value of a Technology Solution

In order to create automation tools, Intel relies on the SECSIMPro proprietary languages, SML and SSL, for their automation tools. The goal of this project is to provide software that supports easy, automated creation of these files much faster than the current handwritten method.

Using the software utility we propose to build, the client would no longer need to worry over the details of the syntax of the language and handwriting all the required code. We estimate that the development of this project will reduce time required to create these scripts up to 70%. Here is an example of the current and proposed design processes of this problem.

In addition, the time spent by handwriting these scripts is costing the company money and resources. By decreasing the time necessary to generate the SML and SSL files, the company would be decreasing the production costs, which effects Intel’s second most important money making priority.

Even though the result of the project will not directly contribute to any of the remaining priorities, by reducing the amount of time required to generate SML and SSL files, an employee can focus on more profitable tasks.

Business Environment

Since hardware technology is constantly advancing, the types of SML and SSL scripts used for testing must change over time. Even though additional messages are being constantly added to SML and SSL, the general purpose GUI would be able to adapt to these revisions. Even though the demand for this product is not particularly high, it would be extremely useful. This product may also be advantageous for other companies currently using SML and SSL.




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