Shinsung Holdings selects Applied Materials’ SmartFactory solution to optimize production of high-efficiency solar cells

SANTA CLARA, USA: Applied Materials Inc. announced that Shinsung Holdings Corp., a fast-growing manufacturer of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic cells and other high-technology products, has selected Applied’s SmartFactory manufacturing automation solution to optimize productivity and drive down costs as they ramp production across all their solar manufacturing operations in Korea.

Key to Shinsung’s selection was the unique ability of the SmartFactory system to combine multiple production lines into a single virtual factory, enabling the system to modify process flows in real time to deliver higher and more consistent factory output.

“Advanced factory automation is a critical part of our strategy to provide high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells to our customers around the world,” said a spokesperson for Shinsung Holdings. “We have chosen to work with Applied because SmartFactory technology offers the affordable, flexible and scalable solution we need to support our aggressive capacity growth and efficiency roadmaps.”

“Our solar customers are at an inflection point – large scale factories and higher cell efficiencies are driving broad-based adoption of factory automation systems,” said Charlie Pappis, vice president and general manager of Applied Global Services. “Applied is enabling this transition with affordable, robust, integrated automation solutions that can be expanded as customers’ businesses grow, without disrupting ongoing production.”

Rapidly-deployable Applied SmartFactory software features pre-built operating scenarios for advanced crystalline silicon cell manufacturing, enabling customers to monitor all work-in-progress material movements, manage production sequencing and deliver instructions to shop floor workers via a consistent, task-focused graphical user interface.

Incorporating Applied E3 process control and monitoring technology, the SmartFactory system is the first factory control system available that can interface directly with production equipment, enabling product quality monitoring and statistical process control. The E3 technology includes active fault detection, run-to-run process tuning, and process diagnostics and monitoring – critical capabilities for solar manufacturers looking to optimize factory output and improve cell efficiency.