JPH01109059A - production control equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to production control technology, multi-product mixing type 41. Regarding technology for controlling production, for example, we will discuss technology that is effective for use in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices.

[Conventional technology]

The production of semi-JJJ body equipment covers many types of products,
Moreover, the combination and order of processes that each product goes through is not the same, making production management complicated. Therefore, we use computers, etc. to grasp the delivery date and progress status of each product, and periodically monitor each product. A production control system has been adopted that instructs the processing start time (or completion time) and destination of each process.

Let us take the multi-product production control technology as an example.
As described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5G-114 (I50), there is a technology in which products with the same order of steps and combinations thereof are grouped, and production is controlled for each group.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such high-mix product production control technology, as the variety of products increases, it is necessary to maintain and improve product types and characteristics, so it is necessary to maintain and improve product types and characteristics. , management has started to correspond to each piece of equipment, and in the case of grouping, the overload status of individual equipment is not taken into consideration, making it difficult to maximize productivity. The inventor has revealed that there is a point.

An object of the present invention is to provide a production control device that can improve the productivity of the entire production process.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Representative inventions disclosed in this application will be summarized as follows.

For multiple types of products, there is a prediction means for predicting when each product will pass through each production process and its production volume, and a capacity storage means for storing the processing capacity of each equipment in each production process. , the overload status of each piece of equipment in each production process is determined by comparing the prediction result from the prediction means with the processing capacity from the capacity storage means, and the overload status of each piece of equipment is compared with each other in each production process. a priority determining means that determines the production priority by comparing the order of production, and a order changing means that changes the order of starting production for each product based on the determination of the priority determining means and instructs subsequent production progress. It was established.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, it is possible to predict how the overload status of each production process and individual equipment will change, and also to predict how the overload status of each production process and each piece of equipment will change.
' By comparing the degree of L load, the production process and equipment that are the bottleneck can be identified from the entire current production situation, so by maximizing the productivity of that part,
The productivity of the entire production process will be improved.

(Example) - Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a production control system which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a process diagram for explaining its operation,
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are also diagrams.

In this embodiment, the production control device is configured using a computer, etc., and in a semiconductor device manufacturing factory,
It is configured to control the manufacture of a wide variety of wafers.

By the way, wafers are manufactured by repeating a plurality of types of processes such as a lithography process, a diffusion process, a vaporization process, etc. many times, and changing and adjusting the processing conditions at each stage. Further, not only the processing conditions may differ between wafers of different types, but also the order and combination of processes may differ. Furthermore, as the diversification of products continues to advance, equipment to be used for each product type may be specified in order to maintain and improve product types and characteristics.

Therefore, in order to simplify the explanation, we will introduce three different types of
Types of first to third wafer groups F1sF1, 1; and 1?3
As a family, the family “I” is shown in Figure 2.
An example will be explained in which the product is produced at °C by processes, process sequences, and combinations.

In FIG. 2, Kl % Kt and K3 represent each production process (hereinafter referred to as K□ process, Kg process, and K3 process).

), a, b, and c of the K3 process are each production facility (hereinafter referred to as a facility, b facility, and C facility).
c indicates which equipment of the three culms is used for each wafer group Fl % Fil % T'3.

The production control device includes a prediction means Ml that predicts how the capacity negative 1:i will change for each production course and individual equipment based on the current production situation, and prediction data from the prediction means M1, which will be described later. A priority determining means M! that mutually checks each of the six production processes and each piece of equipment based on the ability value from the ability storage means M3 and determines the priority of each product. and,
Capacity storage means M3 for storing the capacities of each production process and individual equipment, and the determining means M! and input means MS 8 to M5c for grasping the production status and inputting product types, quantities, etc. These are configured to realize the functions described below.

Next, the effect will be explained.

In advance, the prediction means Ml predicts how the load capacity will change for each production process and individual equipment based on orders, sales plans, past production results, current production status, etc., and predicts each wafer FxsFt, Fs is Kl
, to! The timing of passing through the three steps and the production amount are predicted.

On the other hand, Kl, Kt, and the processing power of each equipment within the three processes, which are determined from past production results, etc., are stored in the capacity storage means M3 by an appropriate means.

If the processing capacity of the K1 process is 2 processing per day! Nth place, K! If the processing capacity of the process is about 1 m per day, and the processing capacity of equipment a, b, and C in the K3 process is 10 per summer processing unit, the production volume of equipment a, b, and C in the K3 process is about 4 m. 1 as shown in °ζ. According to Figure 4, in the K3 process, 5
This results in a total of 511 minutes per day during which the aSb and C facilities are not operated.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to reduce this period of non-operation, the priority determining means M! In , the predicted data from the prediction means M1 and the stored data from the ability storage means M3 are compared, and K s , K * and 3 are compared.
The overload Cj status of each piece of equipment in the process is determined, and the overload status of each piece of equipment is compared with each other for each piece of equipment in the 1st, 3rd, and 3rd processes.
The production priority for each wafer F1, Ft and Fs in 3 is determined. Then, in the construction start order changing means M4, the priority determining means M
! For each product based on the determination by:i? At the same time as the work order is changed, a th indication regarding the subsequent production progress is issued to each input means M5axM5c.

For example, in order to make up for the overload of "2nd day" on "day + 10th day" of equipment a, K! In the process, the first group of wafers in progress using equipment b F! The priority order of the in-process first wafer group Fl using equipment a is changed.

If the rank is a −1b, a, b in the K3 process
The production status at the and C facilities will be as shown in FIG. 5, and the 5-day suspension period from that day in the K3 process will be reduced to a total of 3 days.

Then, the original order regarding the third wafer group F3 is C-C-
a-b, and if this is changed to (-411-a-〇), the total operation suspension period of equipment a, b, and C in the K3 process will be 10, and the operating efficiency of equipment a, b, and C will be becomes maximum.

Actually Niha, each '7-1-ha Jl\F 1, F t
By changing the usage priority for , F 3, the productivity will be positive in the K3 process, but it may be negative in the other Kx and 2 processes. Rather than just changing the equipment, each process and individual equipment are compared with each other while changing the ranking of each product. As this process is repeated, the part where the productivity is highest in the entire production line is Ii: tla.
In this case, production is carried out in accordance with the priority order given.

Figure 3 is a line 1 for explaining the production adjustment effect mentioned above.
It is.

In FIG. 3, ■ is the result predicted by the prediction means Ml, and ■, ■, and ■ are the priority determination means M1! , the contents are arranged iJJ by the ability storage means M3 and the construction start order changing means M4, respectively.

Basically, bringing the 4L productivity closer to the MAX value of each production process or individual setting (dll) is to make the 4L productivity h: l,
Also, speed up ■ and delay the remaining portion. By controlling the production progress adjustment by the changing means M4 based on the priority 111 of the °μm determining means M2, it is possible to bring it close to the MAX value.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects are achieved.

Ill By comparing predicted data on the timing and amount of raw material each product passes through each process with stored data on the processing capacity of each equipment in each process, the load on each equipment in each process can be calculated. By determining the overload status of each facility as a result of this determination and comparing the overload status of each facility in each process, the priority of production is determined, and the subsequent production progress is indicated by one digit. It is possible to suppress the downtime of each piece of equipment in each process and maintain and improve operating efficiency to its maximum value, thereby increasing productivity, as well as preventing changes in production plans, changes in defect rate, and equipment failure. It is possible to immediately respond to changes in production conditions such as

+21 By increasing productivity, manufacturing costs can be reduced and product delivery dates can be maintained as a whole.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained based on Examples above, the present invention is not limited to the Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Not even.

For example, a priority determining means that determines the load of each piece of equipment in each process by comparing predicted data and stored data can be configured to determine the load phase h- of each piece of equipment in each process at the same time. In addition to configuring the structure so as to make multiple comparisons, the criteria for determining the priority order of each piece of equipment should be determined based on the various conditions of each production process and equipment based on production results and current production status. It is also possible to configure it so that "ζ" is given.

In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to the application field of controlling the preparation of wafers, which is the background field of application, but it is not limited to this, and the invention is applicable to other products. Excellent effects can be obtained when applied to production control, especially when producing different types of products continuously.

〔Effect of the invention〕

A simple explanation of the effects achieved by typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

By comparing the forecast data of when each product passes through each process and the production outlet with the records (Q data) about the processing capacity of each equipment in each process, it is possible to check the overload status of each equipment in each process. By comparing the load of each equipment that is the result of this judgment for each equipment in each process, the priority of production is determined and the subsequent progress of production is instructed. Since it is possible to maintain and improve the operating rate to the maximum value by adjusting the operation stop period 1?+I of each equipment in the process, it is possible to increase productivity and change the production plan. It is possible to immediately respond to changes in production conditions such as changes in the defective rate and equipment failures.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a production control system that is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a process diagram for explaining its operation, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are each line diagram. be. M...Prediction means, M! ...Priority determining means, M
3... Capacity symbol, α means, M4... Means for changing start order, M5... Manual means, K1% K*, K3-Production worker J! ,! , a, b, c...equipment, Fl, Ft,
Fa: Wafer group (product JIY). ni 1~ni 3...)! ,i Tongyuan Yang M5aAJM5cm Person 1171HL P1~P3... Sea urchin eight ('!L3) Figure 1 Figure 2rJ4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Forecasting means for predicting the time when each product passes through each production process and its production amount for multiple types of products;
A capacity storage means stores the processing capacity of each piece of equipment in each production process, and the overload status of each piece of equipment in each production process is checked by comparing the prediction results from the prediction unit and the processing capacity from the capacity storage unit. a priority determining means that determines the production priority by comparing the overload of each equipment with each other in each production process, and changing the order of starting construction for each product based on the determination of the priority determining means and a construction start order changing means for instructing subsequent production progress. 2. The priority determining means is configured to assign a degree to the priority determining criteria for each piece of equipment in response to various conditions in each production process and (individual equipment). A production control device according to claim 1.