Optimal K-unit cycle scheduling of two-cluster tools with residency constraints and general robot moving times

Xin Stephen LI, Richard Y. K. FUNG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The semiconductor manufacturing industry is significantly expensive both in equipment and materials. Cluster tools, a type of automated manufacturing system integrating processing modules and transport modules, are commonly used in this industry. Nowadays, multi-cluster tools, which are composed of several cluster tools connected by joint buffer modules, are often used for wafer production. This paper deals with K-unit cycle scheduling problems in single-armed two-cluster tools for processing identical wafers in deterministic settings. In a K-unit cycle, K wafers are exactly inserted into the two-cluster tool, and K completed wafers leave the two-cluster tool, usually not the same K wafers. Residency constraints and general moving times by the robot are both considered. The objective is to obtain optimal K-unit cycle schedules, which minimize cycle times. To analyze this scheduling problem in detail, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is formulated and solved. Numerical examples are used to explain how the solution can be obtained from the MILP model in a K-unit cycle. Copyright © 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)165-176
JournalJournal of Scheduling
Volume19
Early online dateNov 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2016

Citation

Li, X., & Fung, R. Y. K. (2016). Optimal K-unit cycle scheduling of two-cluster tools with residency constraints and general robot moving times. Journal of Scheduling, 19, 165-176. doi: 10.1007/s10951-015-0448-7

Keywords

  • K-Unit cycles
  • Mixed integer linear programming
  • Multi-cluster tools
  • Residency constraints
  • General robot moving times

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