From Talent Shortage to Workforce Excellence in the CHIPS Act Era: Harnessing Industry 4.0 Paradigms for a Sustainable Future in Domestic Chip Production

TL;DR

This paper explores how Industry 4.0 technologies like automation and AR/VR can address workforce shortages in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing by improving education, onboarding, and operational efficiency.

Contribution

It proposes leveraging automation and AR/VR paradigms to enhance workforce development and operational attractiveness in domestic chip production.

Findings

Automation can streamline manufacturing processes.

AR/VR enhances training and onboarding experiences.

Industry 4.0 technologies improve workforce retention and productivity.

Abstract

The CHIPS Act is driving the U.S. towards a self-sustainable future in domestic chip production. Decades of outsourced manufacturing, assembly, testing, and packaging has diminished the workforce ecosystem, imposing major limitations on semiconductor companies racing to build new fabrication sites as part of the CHIPS Act. In response, a systemic alliance between academic institutions, the industry, government, various consortiums, and organizations has emerged to establish a pipeline to educate and onboard the next generation of talent. Establishing a stable and continuous flow of talent requires significant time investments and comes with no guarantees, particularly factoring in the low workplace desirability in current fabrication houses for U.S workforce. This paper will explore the feasibility of two paradigms of Industry 4.0, automation and Augmented Reality(AR)/Virtual Reality(VR), to complement ongoing workforce development efforts and optimize workplace desirability by catalyzing core manufacturing processes and effectively enhancing the education, onboarding, and professional realms-all with promising capabilities amid the ongoing talent shortage and trajectory towards advanced packaging.