Integration of Facility Planning and Layout Planning Using Self-Organization in Semiconductor Manufacturing

摘要

This paper proposes a new approach to integration of facility planning and layout planning using self-organization method in semiconductor manufacturing. The self-organization method is proposed to generate facility layout plans autonomously according to the material flow which emerges from local interactions among production elements. This study introduces the machine number adjustment agent to the self-organization method. The agent has a modification rule of the number of machines according to work load. Finally, both planning methods are integrated. A case study is presented for semiconductor manufacturing. It is difficult to find a proper plan in that case study because the system has large scale and complex process flow. Effectiveness of the proposed method is discussed in computer simulations where the number of machines and layout of the machines are planned simultaneouly. Comparison is made with the current facility layout, which was produced by human experts, in terms of accumulated travel mileage of product, amount of Work In Process (WIP), and Turn Around Time (TAT) of each product.