Last year, as reported by DigiTimes referencing South Korean media, Samsung Electronics created the Digital Twin Task Force, a special unit tasked with achieving 100% automation in chip production by 2030. Accelerated delivery of required equipment for Samsung suggests this goal could be realized several years earlier.
Currently, explains the source, Samsung Electronics is informing suppliers that high degree automation equipment will take priority. At the silicon wafer processing stage, Samsung’s automation level already surpasses 90%. However, subsequent operations related to chip packaging and testing are only 20-30% automated. This is due to a combination of manipulations inconvenient for automation, but ultimately, Samsung plans to achieve 100% in this area.
If equipment suppliers actively increase automation levels, a 100% target can be accomplished by 2026, experts anticipate. The introduction of artificial intelligence technologies will aid this, and a shortage of skilled professionals is another factor driving the accelerated implementation of automated solutions in chip production. Since June of the previous year, Samsung has been utilizing fully automated chip production lines at two of its factories. Besides reducing technological downtime by 90%, this move has lowered personnel requirement by 85%.
