10109312FlexPlanner/FAR: Automated Solutions to dramatically improve wafer-fab efficiency, while simultaneously reducing reliance on manufacturing skilled labourClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKSemiconductors form the basis of all electronics. The Global semiconductor market is forecast to grow to almost £800bn by 2030 driven by demand for more and more complex chips, and more than a trillion semiconductors are manufactured globally each year. The UK Government's vision for the sector (National Semiconductor Strategy 2023) is that "over the next 20 years, the UK will secure areas of world-leading strength in the semiconductor technologies of the future by focusing on our strengths" The three primary objectives are: 1\. To grow the domestic sector: building on UK strengths 2\. To safeguard UK supply: working collaboratively with international industry partners 3\. To protect the UK against the security risks Bringing together leading manufacturer Seagate and unique UK deep-tech company Flexciton, this 12-month project delivers directly against objectives (1) and (2) by **developing and demonstrating a breakthrough solution for increasing semiconductor factory efficiency**, directly driving the competitiveness of the UK sector, and creating a globally-advantaged manufacturing specialism. This supports UK supply security by making the UK a critical link in the complex global supply chain, and a key partner for the international industry to support. **Semiconductor manufacturing is uniquely complex -** each item can take over a year to make and go through almost 2000 processes - and huge effort is expended every day arguing over the best way to arrange the factory and schedule the production. The resulting plans are not optimised and - in the context of a tremendous and growing skilled worker shortage in the sector - this is not a productive use of skilled workers' time. The problem is currently too complex for fully-autonomous optimisation, with Flexciton at the forefront, already optimising over the next 24 hours. This project leverages the UK's strengths in mathematics and software engineering to create a solution which will not only **automatically optimise** the full-factory schedule a whole month in advance, but also **recommend the best ways to re-organise the factory** to maximise throughput. This will be immediately deployed by collaborator Seagate **helping to safeguard 1400 jobs in Northern Ireland**. By increasing capacity without increasing energy usage, it enables economic growth consistent with the **UK government's net-zero commitments**. This innovation will be the first-of-its-kind and will initially be applied to UK semiconductor manufacturing and then exported overseas. Post project completion, Flexciton expects to generate profits which will be invested in R&D, with new jobs to be created commensurately.