The challenge
Project purpose
The purpose of the partnership was to safely migrate 30+ critical CIM software systems to Apache Pulsar while maintaining uninterrupted fab operations and preventing IT cost overruns.
The manufacturer defined four explicit goals for the migration project:
- Reduce maintenance efforts through reduced system complexity.
- Enable future application developments with state-of-the-art open-source technology.
- Improve system security through modern authentication and authorization.
- Reduce operating cost compared to the legacy messaging status quo.
Business objectives
- Consolidate existing message bus technologies: Replace TibRV, JMS, and Kafka with a single Apache Pulsar platform.
- Pulsar Fastlane: Run pilot use cases in production early to validate the platform and gather real-world feedback.
- Migrate 30+ applications to Pulsar messaging: Cover all SmartFactory CIM apps and custom in-house systems.
- Drop message bridges and development tooling: Eliminate bridge infrastructure and custom adapters that accumulated under legacy message bus technology.
The solution
Applied Materials engaged the semiconductor manufacturer under a formal Statement of Work covering four work packages: system initialization, SFMBA protocol delivery, in-house application migration support, and production cutover. The SFMBA—Applied’s drop-in adaptors—enabled every CIM application to communicate natively over Apache Pulsar without rearchitecting business logic.
Key elements of the engagement included a migration approach designed to reduce risk while giving the customer a clear path to long-term maintainability. Applied supported a Dual-Mode Message Bus Architecture for the CIM systems that enabled seamless switchover capability through configurations. The new message bus also strengthened enterprise security by deploying TLS encryption and JWT-based authentication across CIM connections.
To protect production continuity, TibRV and Apache Pulsar ran in parallel during the transition. Each CIM application included a “tibco-pulsar-switch” capability, allowing the organization to move systems to Pulsar in a controlled way while preserving a proven rollback path. Applied also supported this customer in developing an APF macro migration framework that allowed the customer’s developers to migrate APF rule blocks through configuration changes rather than code rewrites.
Testing, training, and documentation were central to the engagement. Applied supported the various testing activities across CIM and non-CIM components, enabling daily regression testing throughout the migration. The project also included an on-site kickoff and workshop, three training cohorts, an architecture review workshop, and additional engineering workshops at key project milestones. A six-day curriculum covered Apache Pulsar fundamentals, SFMBA installation for all CIM modules, and application development training for multiple engineering teams. Applied also delivered formal SFMBA message protocol specifications, providing the guardrails for the customer to build and certify in-house adapters independently.
Results
After the migration, the manufacturer saw a meaningful improvement in message bus stability and operational simplicity. Apache Pulsar’s at-least-once delivery guarantee replaced the best-effort delivery model used by TibRV, helping the team achieve virtually zero message loss. With the architecture consolidated around a single Pulsar hub, day-to-day message bus management became simpler and the engineering effort previously spent maintaining bridge infrastructure and custom adapters is now redirected to higher-value work.
The customer noted they did not experience any major issues with SmartFactory Message Bus following migration and operational stability significantly improved. They reported that Pulsar’s delivery guarantees and advanced architecture virtually eliminated message loss, reducing operational overhead significantly.
By late 2025, all integration scenarios had been verified, and the broader 30-plus application scope had been addressed across both SmartFactory CIM applications and the customer’s in-house systems. Legacy message bus bridges and tooling are retired, which simplified the environment and reduced the operational overhead associated with running multiple messaging technologies in parallel.
The new environment also delivered strong performance with room to spare. The customer’s cluster was conservatively provisioned, and it performed so well that the team began exploring right-sizing opportunities to optimize infrastructure spend. At the same time, TLS encryption and JWT-based authentication improved the security posture across all CIM connections, adding capabilities that were not available in the legacy messaging environment.
Beyond the immediate operational gains, the project established an important reference for the industry: one of the first large-scale CIM messaging migrations from TibRV to Apache Pulsar in semiconductor manufacturing. The approach created a repeatable template for future transformation projects where manufacturers need to modernize message bus technology without disrupting fab operations.
What’s next
The chip manufacturer and Applied Materials continue to collaborate on proactive LTS certification of new Apache Pulsar versions and evaluation of Applied’s next-generation Pulsar administration tooling, particularly its ability to visualize business-specific message transactions and error sequences that generic tools cannot address. Looking ahead, the partnership is also focused on leveraging advanced Pulsar capabilities that have not yet been fully utilized, including Pulsar Functions for lightweight event-driven processing, retention-based “latest value” subscription patterns to simplify state synchronization and late-joining consumer onboarding, and replicated subscriptions to enhance high availability and disaster recovery across sites. This ongoing engagement reflects a partnership that extends well beyond the migration project.
FAQs
How do I know if our factory messaging infrastructure has become too complex?
Can we modernize our factory integration architecture without risking production downtime?
What are the benefits of moving from proprietary messaging systems to modern open-source platforms?
How can a factory improve message reliability across critical manufacturing systems?
What should manufacturers look for when selecting a factory message bus platform?
Manufacturers should evaluate factors such as scalability, security, application compatibility, upgrade flexibility, operational simplicity, and long-term maintainability. The best solution should support current manufacturing requirements while providing a path for future expansion without requiring extensive redevelopment of existing applications.
