hume.com

What It Is

Hume Integration Software is a software company that has served the semiconductor manufacturing industry since 1992, with products focused on Network Integrated Manufacturing. Its core offering is the Datahub SDK, along with a set of integration tools around SECS/GEM, OPC, message middleware, and application components. The goal is to help equipment vendors, wafer fabs, and system integrators quickly build equipment interfaces, data collection systems, and distributed manufacturing applications.

Core Capabilities

In terms of functionality and use cases, Hume covers SECS-I, HSMS, SECS-II, 300mm GEM, and PVECI, and has added OPC integration. It is suitable for adding SECS/GEM interfaces to equipment, or for bringing OPC controllers into the same toolchain. Datahub’s Distributed Message Hub provides a client-server messaging system that supports communication across computers, processes, and programming languages, with an emphasis on low-latency in-memory databases, publish/subscribe messaging, message queues, and avoiding polling. For platforms and languages, the site explicitly mentions .NET, Java, VC++, Visual Basic tool controllers, C++ on Linux, Windows, and Linux. Core functionality is implemented in C, while the interface layer mentions open-source scripting languages. Ecosystem integrations include Oracle, DB2, Windows ODBC, XML, and third-party extensibility.

Pricing and Licensing

The product uses a commercial licensing model. The Datahub SDK includes all SECS/GEM products, OPC server integration tools, and middleware, along with one year of support and software maintenance. The license allows a single developer to use it on two computers. Lower-cost runtime licenses are also available for resale to customers or deployment across more systems, and site licenses are offered as well. The official website does not disclose specific pricing, so budget evaluation requires contacting the vendor.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are a very clear industry focus, coverage of common semiconductor manufacturing standards, multi-platform support, and higher-level interfaces that reduce repeated protocol development work. The official site also emphasizes 24/7 stable operation and lists customer or case references such as Freescale, Agilent, and K&S. The drawbacks are that the information feels somewhat traditional and pricing is not transparent. Although documentation entry points exist, the crawled content does not confirm the quality of the API documentation, examples, or tutorials. The open-source boundary is also unclear: the site only states that it incorporates selected open source software, so the core product should be evaluated as a commercial closed-source tool.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is suitable for semiconductor equipment OEMs, factory automation teams, MES/equipment integrators, and companies that need to migrate legacy manufacturing control systems. It is not a good fit for general Web/API developers. The source content does not provide information on access from China, payment methods, or local alternatives, so its access status is rated unknown. If purchasing from China, it is recommended to verify website connectivity, business payment options, remote support time zones, and whether local implementation partners are available in advance.