FabTime Newsletter Community Announcements Page

The announcements below are from the FabTime Cycle Time Newsletter, Volume 27, No. 3, published on September 22, 2026. We share release notes for FabTime software version 2610, with an example from AskJen 3.0. We also have a recap of the most recent FOA meeting and an overview of the INFICON team's plans for SEMICON West in October. 

Past issues of the newsletter are available for subscribers to download in PDF format. Existing subscribers can find the archive link in your most recent email newsletter. New subscribers will see the link upon registering. 

• Register for the newsletter here
• Main article for Volume 27, No. 3: Ten Metrics for Fab Health 
• Subscriber discussion forum for Volume 27, No. 3
• Reach out to newsletter editor Jennifer Robinson here

The latest version of the FabTime flexible reporting software is currently available for customer testing and is installed on several customer test servers. Contact your FabTime support engineer for information about getting a preview of this update installed at your fab. Highlights of 2610 include: 

🔷 Major Updates

• Home page chart annotations: user-defined text boxes that can be added above each chart, with markdown formatting available
• Trending multiple date ranges on a single chart: users can now enter multiple date ranges. For example, you might include scrap by quarter for the prior year on the left as a reference, followed by scrap by day for the current week or month to the right
• AskJen 3.0: integrated access to FabTime software tips and help and past cycle time newsletters, with ability to create individual charts or full, annotated home page tabs
• Alert run-time budgets: daily limits on run time for individual alerts, to improve overall system performance
• Analyze 3-level and 4-level pivot tables with first-class support for Ag-Grid pivot charts

🔹 Minor Updates

• M-Ratio and PM-Ratio: metrics that distinguish between planned maintenance and more disruptive unplanned downtime
• Display QR codes in grids for operator use, e.g. to scan a lot number.
• Chart hover (i) info icon to give users the information that they need to re-create shared charts on their own
• Improved placement and configurability of AG Grid custom charts

AskJen 3.0 Example:

In addition to asking software and chart questions, you can use AskJen 3.0 to ask factory performance questions. AskJen will search the past FabTime newsletters and generate a mini-article in response to your question. The article will link directly to source material within the FabTime help system (help articles, FabTime newsletters, and FabTime software tips). In the example below, we ask “Should we use carts to transfer lots between steps in our fab?” This was covered back in Volume 9, Number 2 (2008!). The first part of the response is shown below.

Mario Faria, Jennifer Robinson and Carlo Verdino (shown left to right below) represented INFICON at the Q3 Fab Owners Alliance meeting. The meeting was hosted by Northrop Grumman in Linthicum, Maryland. 

The meeting was hosted by Northrop Grumman in Linthicum, Maryland. INFICON sponsored the Women of the FOA (WFOA) meeting, where Jennifer presented on INFICON’s AI product strategy and co-led, with Jeannie Jesson, a group discussion about women and AI (photo credit Raschell Hickmott)

Jennifer also presented survey results at the supplier partner meeting, together with Supplier Partner Advisory Council (SPAC) co-members Andrew Seward, Matt Ritchie, and Raschell Hickmott. Highlights of the meeting for the INFICON team also included evening social events at the local Guinness factory and TopGolf.

INFICON will have a booth and extensive representation at SEMICON West next month. Highlights include:

• John Behnke presenting From Always-On to Intelligent Control: Closing the Subfab Gap with Factory-Integrated Control in the SCIS Forum on Tuesday, October 13^th from 12:15-12:35 pm Pacific Time.
• Igor Kuvychko and Holland Smith presenting Scaling Factory Scheduling for Modern Back-End Semiconductor Manufacturing in the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion on Wednesday, October 14^th from 11:35-11:55 am Pacific Time.
• Chunhua Song presenting a poster on Advancing QCM Sensors: From Established Applications to AI-Driven Innovation in the Test Vision Poster Session and Reception on Wednesday, October 14^th from 3:10–5:00 pm Pacific Time.
• Jennifer Robinson participating in a panel discussion during the Women’s Lunch, co-sponsored by the Women of the FOA, and the Women’s Walk, both scheduled for Wednesday, October 14^th.

Stop by and see us at Booth #5268 in the North Hall, conveniently located across from the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion.

For more reading from the FabTime newsletter, see:

• Main article for Volume 27, No. 3: Ten Metrics for Fab Health 
• Subscriber discussion forum for Volume 27, No. 3