THE GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY IS UNDERGOING A REVOLUTION DUE TO DEMANDS FOR INCREASING PRODUCT CAPABILITIES. AMONG THESE ARE FEATURE SIZES AT 0.1 MICRON OR LESS; 1 GIGABIT CHIP DENSITY; WAFER SIZES OF 300MM-PLUS; AND 700 PROCESSING STEPS. CONSEQUENTLY, PARADIGM SHIFTS MUST OCCUR IN WAFER HANDLING, WAFER PROCESSING, PROCESS CONTROL, MATERIAL PURITIES, FAB ORGANIZATION, FAB AUTOMATION, EQUIPMENT UTILIZATION, CIM, COST CONTAINMENT AND MORE. TO SURVIVE, MANUFACTURERS MUST RADICALLY IMPROVE IN SUCH AREAS AS DEFECT-FREE MANUFACTURING, PROCESS STEP COUNT, EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY AND STABILITY, CYCLE TIME AND YIELD. THE GOAL WILL LIKELY BE A FAB WHICH IS FULLY AUTOMATED, COMPUTER INTEGRATED AND FUNCTIONING IN MICROENVIRONMENTS.