Yes, and companies like TSMC and Intel probably have vast internal documentation about where and how their processes can improve yield as they run their newest fabs. The research required to implement a new process can take decades to get to the mass-production stage. Given the billion of dollars at stake and thousands of human-years of R&D needed, none of these companies are "winging it" and their scientists and engineers know how to plan ahead to the best of their considerable abilities.
> Given the billion of dollars at stake and thousands of human-years of R&D needed, none of these companies are "winging it"
You'd be surprised. My personal knowledge of one major fab is that they have policies such as
regular rotation of employees which make it difficult to maintain institutional knowledge. I have heard complaints from multiple people of their teammates and managers "winging it" to think it's isolated incidents.
Cynical thoughts along these lines occurred to me after I posted my comment, so no, I'm not surprised, just disappointed. Especially not after watching Intel slowly rot from the inside (good luck with your renovations, Mr. Gelsinger). My workmate at my last job (pre-COVID) knew someone who worked at Intel, and our discussions about the company tended to contain the phrase "Intel is fucked" an awful lot. This was around the time I bought a nice chunk of TSMC stock...
For a glimpse at how they do things, see this fascinating talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFhc8R_uO4