IBM invented semiconductor manufacturing automation

In 1970, IBM manager Bill Harding led Project SWIFT, an ambitious effort to create the first fully automated semiconductor fabrication line capable of producing integrated circuits in under one day. The project achieved a remarkable 5-hour turnaround time per fabrication layer—a speed that remains unmatched today, with modern fabs averaging 36 hours per layer. Many of SWIFT's groundbreaking automation innovations became industry standards, though its unprecedented speed has never been replicated in subsequent generations of chip manufacturing.