Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Health care management
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-09
2004-05-18
Hafiz, Tariq R. (Department: 3623)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Health care management
C705S007380, C700S095000, C700S121000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06738747
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for forming a production plan and an apparatus for forming a production plan.
Recently, with a technological innovation and a change of social structure for consumers, styles of production activities have been rapidly changing in the manufacturing industry to involve a wide variety and small number of goods or productions, short delivery time, and short life cycle. To cope with such a change of styles of production activities, systematization by computer has been more and more introduced into the manufacturing industry. In forming a production plan, it is becoming indispensable to manage automation by computer to form a production plan with high precision and a good efficiency.
In particular, a thin film formation process of semiconductors or liquid crystals or the like devices has many manufacturing processes, uses the same manufacturing apparatus for a plurality of times, or includes a complex manufacturing process repeating a plurality of similar manufacturing processes. In addition, a thin film formation process is a manufacturing process which is influenced greatly in the quality of the production lots due to the holding times of production lots and by the difference of process precisions of respective manufacturing apparatus. In such a complex manufacturing process, a lot of data are handled, and the manufacturing process have a variety of limitation items in manufacturing that should be taken into consideration in forming a production plan. Accordingly it is becoming more and more difficult for workers to form a plan with a good precision in real time manually, and to provide respective manufacturing apparatuses or automatic carrier units with proper production instructions.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, a production plan forming apparatus using a computer of a prior art is described as follows.
FIG. 7
is a block diagram showing the constitution of a production plan forming apparatus according to a prior art.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the conventional production plan forming apparatus comprises a central processing unit
101
having a computer, a memory unit
102
for storing a variety of data, an input unit
103
for inputting data necessary for forming a production plan, and a display unit
104
for displaying a formed production plan.
The central processing unit
101
has an event receiving part
105
for receiving a change of production conditions as an event such as a start and a finish of production by a manufacturing apparatus and a start and a finish of production of production lots. And the central processing unit
101
has a dispatching part
106
for indicating a production by forming a production plan.
The memory unit
102
stores basic data necessary for forming a production procedure of the production lots and a production plan including information on manufacturing apparatuses necessary for production, and condition data changing with time such as production lots and condition of the apparatus.
The central processing unit
101
collectively controls the input unit
103
, the memory unit
102
and the display unit
104
, and manages for forming a production plan according to a predetermined processing program by utilizing the event receiving part
105
and the dispatching part
106
.
Next, the operation of the above-mentioned apparatus for forming a prior art production plan will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
7
.
This apparatus for forming a production plan receives, as an event, a change of production state when the production state has got the change such as a start and a finish of production of the production lots, and a start and a stop of the operation of the manufacturing apparatus. And the apparatus for forming a production plan automatically forms as required a production plan, as well as carries out a production indication, namely production instruction with respect to the manufacturing apparatuses and production lots with a change in the production state according to the event received.
A manufacturing worker needs to carry out a production procedure different from usual case in order to reproduce the production lots, of which quality has deteriorated due to an excess of the holding time in specific manufacturing processes or is found to be a problem in the inspection process. In this case, a production procedure of this time should be indicated as a manual production.
A sampling test for the production lots is carried out at a constant interval in the lots produced. Depending on the test result, introduction control had to be carried out for the lots already produced or the lots to be produced afterwards. With respect to the process requiring such a complicated limitation, a manufacturing worker removes the lots from target number of products of the production plan and carried out the production indication completely manually.
On thin film formation processes in manufacturing semiconductors or liquid crystals, the quality of the production lots is greatly influenced by the time that production lots were held in the manufacturing process. In a conventional apparatus for forming a production plan, however, production indications are carried out only when the production state changed. Accordingly, in the manufacturing processes with restriction of the strict holding time, a time lag occurs between a time when a production indication is necessary and a time when a production indication is actually held thus causing a problem that the production lots are unnecessarily held. For example, in case a process for manufacturing needs more time than its previous process, a production indication is held so that the previous process is finished its production at the time when the subsequent process finishes its production. Thereby the holding time in the manufacturing processes was reduced.
In addition, it was practically very difficult for a manufacturing worker to carry out a production indication for a production lot exceeding the holding limitation time to be sent to a recovery process immediately, by comparing the holding time for the entire production lots and a holding limitation time that differs depending on each manufacturing process. Accordingly, in such a case, there is a problem that effective production can not be carried out due to a delay of response.
It was necessary to control the introduction of the production lot in the previous process based on the number of the production lot in process during the manufacturing process, in order to keep the holding time of the production lot within the limitation time. And controlling of the introduction of the production lot at the previous process as mentioned above was made, in order to enhance the operation rate of the manufacturing apparatus in the manufacturing process using the same manufacturing apparatus for a plurality of times, and in the manufacturing process for a similar manufacturing process repeated a plurality of times. A conventional apparatus for forming a production plan, however, has a problem that unnecessary in-process lots are stopped at the subsequent process because production indications are sent as required to the manufacturing apparatuses which are not producing in case there is a lot which is operable for production.
A manufacturing process which carries out productions repetitively has also a problem that a manufacturing step free from a lot for producing occurs because the subsequent process differs depending on the lot to be produced.
In a conventional apparatus for forming a production plan, it is necessary to inspect production lots at a certain interval for the lots produced and to control the introduction of the lots already produced or the lots to be produced afterwards depending on the result of the inspection. In such case, in a conventional apparatus for forming a production plan, different lots are inspected depending on the turn of the lot produced, and it was necessary to examine the production lots whether they are proceeded for the next process or for the recovering process after t
Shintani Kazuhiro
Tanaka Masayuki
Yamada Itsuhiro
Yamamura Satoru
Boyce Andre D
Hafiz Tariq R.
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Pearnen & Gordon LLP
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