Optimized Machine Configuring and Job Scheduling Strategy for High Efficiency Semiconductor Manufacturing

Machine configuring strategy acts as a crucial role in IC job scheduling. Due to the reentrability of the semiconductor manufacturing processes, it is extremely difficult to configure machines in different workstations. The vast majority of previous researches focus on the scheduling policy under fixed machine configuration. In this paper, a novel machine configuring strategy is introduced. Nonlinear integer programming method is used for configuring machines, and a pipeline based scheduling policy is used for evaluating efficiencies of manufacturing systems. Data from simulation show that a smart configuring strategy may help to minimize the time difference among processing steps, and the scheduling policy under this configuration may successfully achieve highest manufacturing efficiencies.