Control Systems/ Host Interfaces

Custom tailored solutions for your equipment

Automated machines and equipment are the rule today. Essential criteria for selecting the right controller from the variety of available hardware and software components include:

  • Reliability of the control
  • Process repeatability
  • Availability
  • Intuitive operation
  • Flexible recipes
  • Logging of the process results
  • Performance and response times
  • Remote maintenance and access
  • Expandability

Which solution best meets your requirements?

We work together with you to come up with the right architecture and implement the controller. Regardless of whether it is PC-based, PLC-based or a real-time system – we design and implement your control solution. Of course we also offer the corresponding automation software along with training and support for the best possible support in developing your own solution.

We have specialised experience in the field of controls for vacuum technology equipment. For more than 15 years we have been developing controls for:

  • Bulk-goods coating equipment
  • Optical coating equipment
  • Hard material coating equipment
  • Sputter and electron beam coating equipment
  • Plasma-enhanced surface treatment
  • Ion beam etching and ion beam treatment.

 
Our control concepts in this field of technology are used in Cluster Tools in semiconductor industry and Microsystems technology, and in inline and batch systems for thinfilm and vacuum technology.

Machine Data Acquisition - Makes your machines more transparent

Machines represent the performance platform for production in every industry. An important question therefore is how efficiently these machines are used, how great the utilisation of the machines is, and how reliably the machines operate.
 
Machine data (MDE) and production data (PDE) are available to answer these questions.
 
The TFM and µTFM system solutions are geared towards meeting the requirements of modern machine data acquisition concepts. Depending on the application, TFM can be used to acquire machine data throughout the plant, or µTFM for accomplishing the same thing on a smaller fabrication scale..
The machine states can be transmitted online through interfaces from the machines to the TFM/ µTFM as an MDE-System, or by using manual input terminals. A variety of pre-packaged or configurable interfaces is available.

The functional scope includes:

  • Online visualisation of the machine states
  • Error acquisition and error statistics
  • Machine state statistics
  • Calculating the RAM indicators (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability)
  • Reporting


Documentation of machine states and machine errors as well as evaluation of machine reliability (RAM values) are the foundation of weakness analysis and continuous improvement of the production process.

We offer vast experience in the area of machine data acquisition and will be happy to assist you in optimising your production.