FAQs: Scheduling

How important is the manufacturing schedule in a semiconductor fab?

A semiconductor factory’s manufacturing schedule is vital; it has a direct impact on critical business objectives such as equipment productivity, product quality, and delivering products to customers on time.

A manufacturing scheduling system helps semiconductor manufacturers make the best use of their equipment and personnel resources. A quality factory scheduling solution can improve equipment productivity, product quality, and on-time delivery of products.

Manufacturing simulation software can predict the impact of a particular change to the manufacturing process, such as scheduling rules, before it is made live in the production environment. This can identify potential problems to address prior to implementation, as well as help manufacturers find the most advantageous solutions.

SmartFactory Simulation AutoSched is a capacity planning system that enables simulation of complex workflows to identify hidden and wasted factory capacity. It allows users to create a virtual model of a fab to analyze, predict, and optimize operations, enabling experiments with scheduling rules, equipment, and operator cycles offline.
The semiconductor industry uses automated manufacturing to integrate multiple factory systems (such as those that track lots, processes, scheduling, and distribution) to improve the accuracy and quality of data and communication.
Automated manufacturing solutions can improve productivity and quality while reducing overall costs. Among the many ways they do so is by enabling improved collaboration in one factory or across sites, providing accurate insights into equipment states for better tool management, and managing scheduling solutions using real-time data.