On the 17th, LG Innotek's 'Dream Factory' was established in Gumi City, Gyeongsangbuk-do, at the Gumi 4 Plant. Upon entering the production line, which is three times the size of a soccer field (26,000 square meters), an artificial intelligence (AI) inspection system was able to read the defects and causes of flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) products in just 30 seconds. The results of the defect prediction and inspection system, which is powered by AI that has learned over 200,000 files and 100 gigabytes (GB) of data daily, are immediately conveyed to customers.
A representative from LG Innotek noted, "Through the AI inspection system, we have reduced the time from order to delivery by up to 90%, and we were able to cut the number of personnel involved in inspections by 90% as well," adding, "The Dream Factory is a smart factory that consolidates the latest technologies such as AI, deep learning, and robotics."
◇ AI and deep learning technologies utilized for FC-BGA production
FC-BGA is evaluated as a next-generation semiconductor substrate, used in high-performance applications such as AI, PCs, servers, cloud computing, and electric vehicles, due to its larger substrate size than chip size. It also holds the advantage of stacking layers higher than other semiconductor package substrates, contributing to performance improvement. According to LG Innotek, the FC-BGA market size is expected to grow from 11.3 trillion won this year to 20.4 trillion won by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 10.3%.
In 2022, LG Innotek announced its entry into the FC-BGA business, acquiring the Gumi 4 Plant from LG Electronics to establish the 'Dream Factory,' and began full-scale mass production in February of last year. By the end of last year, it started mass production of PC-oriented FC-BGA for global big tech clients and recently succeeded in acquiring additional customers. Starting next year, the company plans to enter the server-oriented FC-BGA market, which is anticipated to see increasing demand due to the growth of the AI market, aiming to scale its FC-BGA business revenues to trillion-won levels.
Kang Min-seok, head of the substrate materials division at LG Innotek (vice president), introduced the Dream Factory, stating, "We integrated AI into a digital simulation system that can prevent product defects, equipment failures, and more in advance," and added, "Based on the Dream Factory powered by advanced technologies such as AI, we aim to grow LG Innotek's FC-BGA business revenues to trillion-won levels by 2030."
◇ Catching up to leading corporations with AI and automation technologies
As a latecomer in the FC-BGA market, LG Innotek aims to quickly catch up with leading Japanese corporations by utilizing its smart factory, which incorporates AI and advanced automation processes. Japanese FC-BGA companies include Ibiden and Shinko. Vice President Kang stated, "The production yield for FC-BGA is generally over 90%, but for more complex products such as servers, it can drop to as low as 50%," and he added, "Although LG Innotek is a market newcomer, we plan to secure technologies and yields that surpass leading corporations within 2 to 3 years through the advanced technologies embedded in the Dream Factory."
In the Dream Factory production line, beyond the AI-powered inspection system, most processes and logistics systems were operated in an unmanned automated manner. The production facility, three times the size of a soccer field, required only about 10 essential personnel for monitoring, while robots operated the entire process and logistics systems. The strategy is to minimize defects caused by human operators and maximize yields by establishing production equipment such as collaborative robots throughout the entire process.
Dozens of automated mobile robots (AMRs) were constantly moving between the automatically operating process equipment, transporting materials. Production automatically commenced in line with customer delivery schedules, with AMRs transporting raw materials to the processing equipment. When the processing equipment scans the barcode on the raw materials, the process suitable for the product characteristics is automatically prepared on the equipment, and the product processing begins in earnest. The task of moving and loading the completed products again is also handled by the AMRs.
The process of removing protective films from panels was also handled by robots, not humans. A representative from LG Innotek explained, "We are now able to preemptively prevent defect factors caused by foreign substances such as fine scratches and dust."