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Billions for Industrial 'Measurement Capability' Reported
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Semiconductors
Billions for Industrial 'Measurement Capability' Reported
The U.S. semiconductor industry spent between $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion in 1996 to buy measurement tools and instruments used in support of chip manufacturing, reports a first-of-its-kind study commissioned by NIST.
Capital spending to acquire "metrology capability," the study projects, will grow to between $3.5 billion and $5.5 billion by 2001, increasing at a compound annual rate of 15.5 percent. The estimates exclude operating expenses associated with metrology activities.
Suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment incur nearly two-thirds of the industry's metrology costs--most of it going for measurement tools and equipment necessary for making the inspection equipment and other gear used during chip production. However, analytical labs--facilities that provide specialized testing services--account for the fastest growing share of the industry's total investment in measurement-related equipment.
NIST initiated the study to better understand the measurement infrastructure that supports the nation's semiconductor industry. The results will help NIST assess how it can best leverage its measurement research and services to address the industry's technical needs.
While several market research firms track spending for metrology equipment, their estimates exclude most of the industry's extensive "food chain." In contrast, Technecon Analytic Research, which conducted the NIST-funded study, evaluated the measurement costs of semiconductor manufacturers and three other "metrology intensive" industry segments.
It focused on 16 categories of physical measurements--such as temperature, optical properties, and dimensions--used primarily to monitor and control processes.
About 190 U.S.-based companies supplied measurement equipment to domestic chipmakers in 1996. For about 60 percent of these firms, semiconductor-related sales totaled less than $8 million.
For more information, contact Gregory Tassey, (301) 975-2663. To request a single copy of "Metrology-Related Costs in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1990, 1996, and 2001" (NIST Planning Report 98-4), contact Denise Herbert, (301) 975-2657.
Media Contact:
Mark Bello (301) 975-3776
Fire Research
Partners Team Up to 'Beat the Heat' in Buildings
Understanding how energy from a fire moves from the flames to solid surfaces is a critical step toward minimizing or even preventing fire damage in buildings. To gain this knowledge, a cooperative research and development agreement recently was forged between NIST and Factory Mutual Research Corp.--the research arm of the Factory Mutual system that advances property-loss prevention practices in industry.
The three-year-long collaboration will utilize the expertise of both partners--FMRC's in industrial fire research experimentation and radiation modeling, and NIST's in computer modeling of fire properties--to provide the first examination of fire growth and heat release rates in large-scale industrial settings such as warehouses and factories. The CRADA's eventual goal is to develop a database of experimental data on the role of radiation heat transfer in large-scale fires and mathematical models that can predict these effects.
For more information on the NIST/FMRC CRADA, contact Howard Baum, A345 Polymer Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-6668.
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman (301) 975-3025
MEP
Texas Center Helps Toner Remanufacturer Make the Right Move
The wait is over for a Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center client whose cramped facility was costing him money and time. Curtis Morris and the employees of Houston's Enhanced Laser Products recently moved into a new facility, a plant acquired, designed and set up with the assistance of TMAC. The move already has exceeded predictions of how much more efficient it would make the company's business of remanufacturing toner cartridges.
It began when Morris asked TMAC Gulf Coast--one of six Lone Star State regional offices belonging to the nationwide NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership--to collaborate on Enhanced Laser's expansion plans. The company's sales had grown in five years of operation from $300,000 to $5 million, and the rapid increase in product demand was outpacing the efficiency of Enhanced Laser's remanufacturing facility. A new site was in order, so the TMAC Gulf Coast field engineer made recommendations that helped Morris narrow his search. After a 4,645-square-meter (50,000-square-foot) site was selected, the TMAC consultant designed an interior layout that provided for optimal production and left room for future expansion. He predicted that Enhanced Laser would improve its efficiency by 30 percent.
"We've actually seen an increase that's closer to 40 percent now that we're in the new facility," says Morris. "It's amazing how fast we get orders out the door."
The NIST MEP is a nationwide network of manufacturing extension centers helping smaller manufacturers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Smaller manufacturers can call (800) MEP-4-MFG (637-4634) to reach the MEP center serving their region or check out the MEP World Wide Web site at http://www.mep.nist.gov. For more information on TMAC, call (512) 936-0234, send e-mail to tmac@tmac.org or go to the center's WWW site at http://www.tmac.org.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko (301) 975-2767
Materials
Embrittlement Measurements May Help Keep Reactors Running
Researchers in NIST's Materials Reliability Division, Boulder, Colo., have demonstrated the feasibility of using physical-property measurements to evaluate embrittlement resulting from copper precipitation in steel. This is the same type of embrittlement that occurs in reactor pressure vessels exposed to irradiation.
NIST was asked by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to study ways of sensing microstructural changes, which embrittle RPV steels. The NRC feels that a reliable assessment method is critical because many American power reactors are approaching their design life; measurements and standards may permit the industry to extend these reactor life spans.
The Boulder researchers found that non-linear ultrasonic and micromagnetic measurements provided the most promising approaches for sensing changes. They identified descriminants that uniquely characterize precipitation hardening and dislocation mobility in steel that simulated the microstructural features associated with radiation embrittlement. They also confirmed that the critical measurements could be made on full-scale sections (200 millimeters thick) of a reactor pressure vessel.
The research team is attempting to confirm the initial results on another surrogate material and on irradiated samples of an RPV steel. They then will develop the measurement standards needed by the NRC to implement the technology in the nuclear power industry.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan (Boulder) (303) 497-3246
Manufacturing
Standard Interface Proposed for Inspection Probes
Inspection systems, the next generation. What sounds like a Star Trek knock-off for the manufacturing minded is actually an ongoing collaboration aimed at developing inspection technologies that are 10 to 20 times faster than currently available. In the project's most recent installment, the partners have proposed a standard for integrating inspection probes with machine controllers.
"Our goal," explains NIST engineer William G. Rippey, "is to provide sufficient technical guidance so that independently developed probe and controller products will be compatible right out of the package." With the proposed Sensor Interface Module, or SIM, users of coordinate measuring machines could integrate new inspection probes without customized engineering efforts. "This should lead to better inspection capabilities, possibly at lower cost," Rippey says. "Probe vendors could see their latest technology in use on shop floors in much less time."
The proposed SIM describes a hardware card that plugs into the Industry Standard Architecture computer bus. It supplies an interface between sensors and control systems for either inspection equipment or machine tools. NIST and nine other organizations are participating in the Next Generation Inspection System project--now in its second phase--organized by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. With input from other partners, the proposed specification was written by representatives from NIST, the Raytheon Consulting Group, Real Time Development Corp., Automated Precision Inc. and ExtrudeHone Corp.
The SIM now is being evaluated on a coordinate measuring machine at NIST and by two makers of controllers. Before submitting the specification for adoption as a formal standard, the partners are gathering additional industry input.
For additional information, contact William Rippey, B124 Metrology Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-3417.
Media Contact:
Mark Bello (301) 975-3776
Building Research
Simplex Brings Fire Systems into BACnet Consortium
The BACnet Interoperability Testing Consortium, a government/industry collaboration working on "smart" buildings where control systems from different manufacturers communicate, work together and are controlled from a central location, has welcomed Simplex Time Recorder Co. of Gardner, Mass., as the first fire systems provider to join the group.
The consortium, organized by NIST and now including 21 industry partners, seeks advancement and acceptance of the BACnet (acronym for Building Automation and Control Networks) open data communications standard among manufacturers of building control systems, such as those for fire detection, security and energy management. The standard was developed by NIST in collaboration with industry partners and under the auspices of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ASHRAE adopted BACnet as a new industry standard in 1995. BACnet has been adopted as a pre-standard in the European community and proposed as a world standard. Thousands of BACnet systems, in upwards of 14 countries, already have been installed.
One of NIST's roles in the consortium is testing prototype products on the path to market for their ability to work with the BACnet protocol. Among the products most recently tested at NIST was a new self-contained panel--called the BACpac Portal--specifically designed by Simplex to provide point-to-point BACnet connectivity for its fire alarm systems.
For more information on BACnet and the interoperability consortium, contact Steven Bushby, B114 Building Research Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-5873.
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman (301) 975-3025
U.S. Department of Commerce
Technology Administration
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Editor: Michael Newman
HTML conversion: Crissy Wines
Last updated: May 26, 1998
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