Dispatching rules considering transport-related restrictions during failure scenarios — A use case: FA: Factory automation

Integration of transport system information into Manufacturing Execution System (MES) dispatching rules is not yet standard practice. Yet, it could be helpful in several areas of a semiconductor fabrication plant. For example, to react to system failures. Even in fully-automated manufacturing facilities, the MES dispatches production material with consideration of tool utilization and lowest cycle-time. Transport-related restrictions are not reflected in the dispatching rules. The new system logic presented in this paper (called Vehicle Area Controller - VAC) proposes to overcome this limitation, and presents an initial example, which shows that this combination has the potential to minimize throughput loss for production, during AMHS failure scenarios.