Segregating Preventive Maintenance Work for Cycle Time Optimization

Preventive maintenance (PM) plays an essential role in keeping the equipment in control and performing in the long term in semiconductor manufacturing. However, the impact of this activity on the cycle time of a specific toolset or even the entire fab can be detrimental. Hence, there is a strong incentive for determining the best way to carry out the required PM work content so as to optimize cycle time. In this paper, a model is proposed that optimizes the number and frequency of PMs for a predetermined PM work content, with the consideration of attached setups.