The X-FAB Group is a global, listed semiconductor company that manufactures silicon wafers for analog-digital integrated circuits. X-FAB has become a global leader in the semiconductor market by developing high-performance semiconductor processes for the production of integrated circuits and providing a comprehensive range of services.
Customized
Bespoke integration solution based on OPC UA
Reliable
High availability of systems through infrastructure redundancy
Agile
Fast development in close cooperation with the customer
Direct hit
Great user feedback
Challenge
X-FAB previously used its own software solution to distribute alerts to more than 40 Raspberry Pis monitoring production at its Erfurt site. However, the expansion of the production plant and an update to a new gas detection system led to an increase in problems with the existing software solution.
- Alerts were read out at the sensor level. Each new sensor in the system also required software customization.
- The system was not reliable, and there were regular failures. Employees spent a lot of time troubleshooting.
- Insufficient documentation and automation made it difficult to develop the application further.
Since the previous solution no longer met current requirements, the decision was made to redesign and rebuild the alerting system. The aim was to develop a resilient system that could be flexibly extended to include new sensors and alerts. This was intended to prepare the system for future changes to production processes.
Solution
codecentric AG worked in a cross-functional team with X-FAB (composed of the occupational safety, IT and operations departments) and the external service provider of the gas detection system to find a solution for the duration of the project. Changes and adjustments were rolled out to the production environment several times a day. The sheer scope of the implementation, which included many technical aspects, presented a particular challenge.
- Alarms needed to be integrated using an OPC-UA Alarms & Conditions interface.
- In addition to the Raspberry Pis, notifications were also to be transmitted to Windows desktop systems.
- An attractive user interface was also intended to enable users to make adjustments to the system and send customized messages.
- User administration had to be centrally managed by an Active Directory service.
In addition, the solution was implemented entirely on-premises, which brought with it further challenges and complexities in the area of vertical integration. During implementation, we decided together with the client to use a web application based on TypeScript and MongoDB as the database. A large part of the deployment was automated using GitHub Actions for release workflows and Ansible as an Infrastructure as Code tool.
Result
The new software solution provides X-FAB with a future-proof alerting system that is based on a modern technology stack and meets current requirements in terms of performance, reliability, information security, and system resilience. As a result, the application makes a significant contribution to smooth production processes.
Employees receive real-time notifications of problems and faults on their displays, including precise information about the source of the error. It will be possible to expand the system with minimal effort at a later date, for example with new sensors and alarms. The application will also play a central role in informing and protecting employees in the event of an accident.
With codecentric at our side, we were able to raise our alerting system to a new level and at the same time integrate the tried and tested. The short time frame and the development on an active system were a major challenge for both sides, but we successfully mastered it.
Kay Stephan
Staff Engineer Equipment Engineering at X-FAB
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