Automated material handling system operation using manufacturing execution system information in semiconductor fab

Abstract

Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) performs numerous transport jobs to complete products within a semiconductor fab. The efficient operation of the AMHS is a significant problem because it is directly related to the production capacity of semiconductor fabs. Therefore, research to advance the AMHS operation using simulation is being conducted steadily. However, existing studies used a simula tion environment that only modeled material handling parts without modeling the manufacturing parts in the semiconductor fab. They could not observe the production capacity according to AMHS advance ment in such a simulation environment. In addition, the importance of the manufacturing execution system (MES) is also receiving a lot of attention, along with ongoing research on AMHS operations. An AMHS operation algorithm using MES information in a semiconductor fab has recently been proposed. However, there is a limitation because there is no actual MES information in the existing simulation envi ronment. This study established a simulation environment that models both AMHS and manufacturing parts. Using this environment, we present practical methods to operate AMHS using manufacturing execution system (MES) information. As a result, we observed whether the efficient operation of AMHS leads to an improvement in the production capacity of semiconductor fabs and whether the use of MES affects AMHS operation.