JP2002217076A - Method for managing production in multichamber device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the lead time of product, in multichamber device, by synchronizing the date of maintenance thereby increasing the number of products being processed. SOLUTION: Initially scheduled date of processing product and the date of maintenance are extracted for each of a plurality of chambers (S101). The scheduled data of other chamber for starting maintenance is adjusted to synchronize with that of a chamber among the plurality of chambers reaching the date of maintenance first (S102). Subsequently, the date of processing product is adjusted for each chamber based on the adjusted date of maintenance of each chamber (S103). Finally, the adjusted date of processing product and the date of maintenance are designated to the plurality of chambers (S104).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a production management method in a multi-chamber apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in various manufacturing fields, manufacturing apparatuses having a plurality of chambers and designed to perform the same processing or continuous processing in these chambers have been used.
Also in this manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a multi-chamber apparatus), maintenance is required to stably maintain its performance. Usually, the operator manually manages the operation status of the apparatus (for example, the number of times of film formation and the accumulated film thickness of a film forming apparatus, or the number of times of etching and the accumulated etching time of an etching apparatus). Or automatically controlled by a control unit installed outside or inside the multi-chamber apparatus, and operating conditions that limit the stable operation of the multi-chamber apparatus (for example, if the film forming apparatus is a film forming apparatus, When the film number reaches the specified number of times or when the cumulative film thickness reaches the specified cumulative film thickness,
In addition, in the case of an etching apparatus, when the number of etchings reaches a specified number of times or when the accumulated etching time reaches a specified accumulated time, etc.), an operator or a control unit inside or outside the apparatus controls the multi-chamber apparatus. Was issuing maintenance instructions.

Here, a production control method in a conventional multi-chamber apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a conventional production management method. This flowchart includes a product processing date / time and maintenance date / time extraction step S701, a product processing date / time and maintenance date / time setting step S702, and a product processing date / time and maintenance date / time instruction step S703.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a maintenance instruction status of a multi-chamber apparatus according to a flowchart of a conventional production management method. Here, FIG. 8A shows a maintenance instruction state of each of the chambers X1 and X2.
(B) shows a maintenance instruction state of the entire multi-chamber apparatus X including the chambers X1 and X2.

In the conventional production management method configured as described above, the maintenance X1 and X2 and the product processable time ΔTx11 in the chamber X1 for a certain period of time.
In the chamber X2, there are a maintenance X3 and a product processing possible time ΔTx21, ΔTx22. Here, as can be seen from FIG. 8, while the maintenance X1 is being performed in the chamber X1, there is a processable time of the product of ΔTx21 in the chamber X2, and the chamber is also being processed while the maintenance X2 is being performed in the chamber X1. Although there is a processable time of $ Tx23 product in X2 and conversely, there is a processable time of $ Tx12 product in chamber X1 while maintenance X3 is being performed in chamber X2, the apparatus is actually The product processable time of X as a whole is only ΔTx1.

[0007]

As described above, the apparatus X
The overall product processing time is only Tx1
It is dangerous to put another chamber in the same apparatus into operation while maintenance of a certain chamber is being performed, which is not preferable for safety.

Therefore, in reality, the multi-chamber apparatus X has a processable time ΔTx1 of the product, and the processable time ΔTx1 of each product in the chambers X1 and X2.
△ Tx, which is much shorter than the sum of 1, △ Tx21 and △ Tx22
There was a problem that only one product processing time could be obtained.

Further, in the case of performing continuous processing of products in this multi-chamber apparatus, all of the continuous processing cannot be performed because only one of the continuous processings overlaps with the maintenance time of any one of the chambers. There was a problem that.

As a result, the number of times the product can be processed within a predetermined time is reduced, and the processing wait time of the product is inevitably increased, resulting in a problem that the lead time of the product is prolonged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and aims to shorten the product processing wait time by increasing the number of products that can be processed within a predetermined time, thereby shortening the product lead time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a production management method for a multi-chamber apparatus that enables the production.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a production management method in a multi-chamber apparatus according to the present invention is a production management method for determining a sequence of product processing and maintenance in a multi-chamber apparatus having a plurality of chambers. Extracting the originally planned product processing date and time and maintenance date and time in each of the plurality of chambers, and adjusting the other chambers according to the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that first reaches the maintenance date and time among the plurality of chambers. Adjusting the scheduled maintenance start date and time of each chamber, adjusting the product processing date and time of each chamber based on the adjusted maintenance completion date and time of each chamber, and adjusting the adjusted product processing date and maintenance date and time. And a step of instructing the chamber.

In the production control method for a multi-chamber apparatus according to the present invention, the step of adjusting the product processing date and time of each chamber includes the step of adjusting the product processing date and time initially planned for each chamber. When overlapping with the longest maintenance time, it is preferable to start the product processing after the maintenance requiring the longest maintenance time is completed.

In the production control method for a multi-chamber apparatus according to the present invention, when a product is continuously processed in the multi-chamber apparatus, the maintenance time of each chamber in which the originally planned product processing date and time is adjusted in each chamber. When it overlaps with the longest maintenance time, it is preferable to start the first processing of the product to be subjected to continuous processing after the maintenance requiring the longest maintenance time is completed.

[0015] By doing so, the number of times the product can be processed within a predetermined time increases, so that the product processing waiting time is shortened, and the lead time of the product can be shortened.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A production control method in a multi-chamber apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The production management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied to the case where the same processing is performed in a plurality of processing chambers.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the production management method according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a product processing date / time and maintenance date / time extracting step S101, a maintenance date / time synchronizing step S102, a product processing date / time adjusting step S103,
Product processing date / time and maintenance date / time instruction step S104
It is constituted by.

As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-chamber apparatus 201 includes a plurality of processing chambers for performing the same processing.
2), chamber A2 (203), chamber A3 (20)
4) and a cassette box (205).

Next, a production management method according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, in each of the chambers A1, A2 and A3 of the multi-chamber apparatus A, the control unit provided inside or outside the apparatus performs the date and time when product processing in the apparatus is initially planned and maintenance. Is extracted from the product processing and maintenance schedule data for the device stored in the storage unit of the host computer.

At this time, since the product processing date and time and the maintenance date and time are planned independently for each chamber, for example, the product L22 in the chamber A2 and the product L32 in the chamber A3 have the same processing date as the maintenance A1 in the chamber A1. are doing. Here, as described above, it is dangerous to simultaneously perform product processing and maintenance in the multi-chamber apparatus, and it is not permissible for safety. Therefore, the product L22 and the product L32 cannot be actually processed. . Similarly, the product L14 in the chamber A1 and the product L35 in the chamber A3 have the same processing date and time as the maintenance A2 in the chamber A2, and the product L15 in the chamber A1 and the product L25 in the chamber A2 have the same processing date and time as the maintenance A3 in the chamber A3. for,
Neither can be processed in practice.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the control unit performs the quickest maintenance among the chambers A1, A2 and A3 (in the first embodiment, the chamber A).
1) is searched and the maintenance A2 of the other chambers A2 and A3 is set to the start date and time of the maintenance A1 of the corresponding chamber (the chamber A1 in the first embodiment).
In order to match the start date and time of 3, the maintenance date and time are moved forward and adjusted. At the same time, the control unit
When the product processing date and time originally planned for each of the chambers A2 and A3 and the maintenance date and time after the movement adjustment overlap with the movement adjustment of the maintenance A2 and A3, the maintenance is prioritized and the product processing date and time are set. Adjust the movement to retreat after maintenance.

At the time of this adjustment, after completion of the maintenance (maintenance A2 in FIG. 3) in the chamber (chamber A2 in FIG. 3) requiring the longest maintenance time among the maintenances A1, A2 and A3, Adjustment is performed so that product processing after maintenance in the chamber is started. This is for setting so that the product processing always starts after maintenance is completed in all the chambers.

The result of the adjustment is stored again in the storage unit of the host computer as the adjusted product processing date and time and maintenance date and time.

After the control section adjusts the product processing date and time and the maintenance date and time, the control section performs the product processing and maintenance in accordance with the adjusted product processing date and time and maintenance date and time of each chamber. Give instructions to As a result, the products L14 and L1 that could not be processed before the above adjustment were performed.
5, L22, L25, L32, and L35 can be processed within the same predetermined period as before the adjustment.

Further, the second maintenance processing after the completion of the first maintenance processing is performed from the first product processing after the completion of the first maintenance processing. In the case of a film apparatus, the control unit automatically monitors the number of times of film formation and the accumulated film thickness, and in the case of an etching apparatus, the number of times of etching and the accumulated etching time. Among the operating conditions that are the limit in maintaining the stable operation at the earliest time (for example, when the number of times of film formation reaches the specified number of times or the cumulative film thickness reaches the specified cumulative thickness in the case of a film forming apparatus) Also, in the case of an etching apparatus, when the number of etchings reaches a specified number of times or when the accumulated etching time reaches a specified number of accumulated times, etc. Fit of the second time maintenance date planned with respect to the chamber, the maintenance time of the other chambers to adjust and instructions in the manner described above.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, by synchronizing the maintenance date and time of each chamber, the downtime of the entire multi-chamber apparatus can be reduced, and as a result, the predetermined time can be reduced. Since the number of times that the product can be processed within the time increases, the processing wait time of the product is shortened, and the lead time of the product can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the other chambers are adjusted to be synchronized with the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber which first reaches the maintenance date and time. In addition, before the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that first reaches the maintenance date and time, set the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that requires the longest maintenance time among all chambers, and perform maintenance on the chamber that requires the longest maintenance time. In time,
Other chamber maintenance can be adjusted to begin and complete.

In this embodiment, the maintenance instruction method in the multi-chamber apparatus including only a plurality of processing chambers performing the same processing has been described. However, as shown in FIG. , 4
The same holds true in a multi-chamber apparatus B including a plurality of chambers including a part 03 of the same.

(Second Embodiment) A production management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention is applied to a case where continuous processing is performed in a plurality of processing chambers.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the production management method according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a product processing date / time and maintenance date / time extracting step S101, a maintenance date / time synchronizing step S102, a product processing date / time adjusting step S103,
Product processing date / time and maintenance date / time instruction step S104
It is constituted by.

As shown in FIG. 5, the multi-chamber apparatus 501 includes a plurality of processing chambers for performing continuous processing.
2), chamber C2 (503), chamber C3 (50)
4) and a cassette box (505).

Next, a production management method according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6A, in each of the chambers C1, C2, and C3 of the multi-chamber apparatus C, the date and time when the product processing in the apparatus is initially planned by a newly provided control unit inside or outside the apparatus. Further, the date and time when the maintenance is performed are extracted from the schedule data of the product processing and the maintenance related to the device stored in the storage unit of the host computer.

At this time, since the product processing date and the maintenance date and time are planned independently for each chamber, for example, the second processing of the product L21 in the chamber C2 and the third processing of the product L21 in the chamber C3 are performed in the chamber C1. And the processing date and time are overlapped. Here, as described above, it is dangerous to perform product processing and maintenance in parallel in the multi-chamber apparatus at the same time, and it is not allowed for safety. Therefore, the second processing of the product L21 and the chamber in the chamber C2 are actually performed. The third processing of the product L21 in C3 cannot be performed. Since the product L21 must be continuously processed, the product L21 in the chamber C1 is actually
Cannot be processed. Similarly, the third processing of the product L22 in the chamber C3 has the same processing date and time as the maintenance C2 in the chamber C2.
This product L22 cannot perform all processes.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the control unit performs the quickest maintenance among the chambers C1, C2, C3 (in the second embodiment, the chamber C
1) is searched and the maintenance C2 and C3 of each of the other chambers C2 and C3 are set at the start date and time of the maintenance C1 of the corresponding chamber (in the second embodiment, the chamber C1).
The maintenance date and time are moved forward and adjusted so as to match the start date and time of the respective items. At the same time, when the product processing date and time originally planned in each of the chambers C2 and C3 overlap with the maintenance date and time after the movement adjustment in accordance with the movement adjustment of the maintenance C1 and C2, the control unit performs the maintenance. Is performed, and the product processing date and time is moved backward after maintenance.

Since the product processing is a continuous processing, the control unit performs the maintenance (in FIG. 6, the chamber C2 in FIG. 6) requiring the longest maintenance time among the maintenances C1, C2, C3 during this adjustment. After the maintenance C2) is completed, the adjustment is performed so that the product processing is started in the chamber C1 where the first processing of the continuous processing is performed. This is for setting so that the product processing always starts after maintenance is completed in all the chambers.

The result of the adjustment is stored again in the storage unit of the host computer as the adjusted product processing date and time and maintenance date and time.

After the control section adjusts the product processing date and time and the maintenance date and time, the control section performs product processing and maintenance according to the adjusted product processing date and time and maintenance date and time of each chamber. Give instructions to

As a result, the continuous processing of the products L21 and L22 which could not be processed before the above adjustment can be processed within the same predetermined period as before the adjustment.

Further, after the first maintenance process is completed, the second maintenance process is performed after the first product processing after the first maintenance process is completed. In the case of a film apparatus, the control unit automatically monitors the number of times of film formation and the accumulated film thickness, and in the case of an etching apparatus, the number of times of etching and the accumulated etching time. Among the operating conditions that are the limit in maintaining the stable operation at the earliest time (for example, when the number of times of film formation reaches the specified number of times or the cumulative film thickness reaches the specified cumulative thickness in the case of a film forming apparatus) Also, in the case of an etching apparatus, when the number of etchings reaches a specified number of times or when the accumulated etching time reaches a specified number of accumulated times, etc. Fit of the second time maintenance date planned with respect to the chamber, the maintenance time of the other chambers to adjust and instructions in the manner described above.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the downtime of the entire multi-chamber apparatus can be reduced by synchronizing the maintenance date and time of each chamber. Since the number of times that the product can be processed within the time increases, the processing wait time of the product is shortened, and the lead time of the product can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the other chambers are adjusted so as to be synchronized with the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber which first reaches the maintenance date and time. At the same time, before the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that first reaches the maintenance date and time, set the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that requires the longest maintenance time among all chambers, and perform maintenance on the chamber that requires the longest maintenance time. In time,
Other chamber maintenance can be adjusted to begin and complete.

In the present embodiment, the maintenance instruction method in the multi-chamber apparatus composed of only a plurality of processing chambers performing the same processing has been described. However, a plurality of processing chambers partially including the plurality of processing chambers performing continuous processing are described. Although not shown, the same holds true in the multi-chamber apparatus constituted by.

In the first and second embodiments of the present invention, a multi-chamber apparatus in the field of semiconductor manufacturing has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to semiconductors but includes a liquid crystal and a plurality of processing chambers in all other manufacturing fields. The same holds true for a multi-chamber apparatus to be manufactured or a manufacturing apparatus group configured by connecting a plurality of multi-chamber apparatuses.

[0045]

As described above, according to the production control method for a multi-chamber apparatus of the present invention, when the same processing is performed in each chamber and when the continuous processing is performed in the multi-chamber apparatus, the maintenance date and time of each chamber is set. By synchronizing, it is possible to increase the number of times the product can be processed, shorten the product processing waiting time, and shorten the product lead time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a procedure of a production management method in a multi-chamber apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a multi-chamber apparatus including a plurality of chambers that perform the same processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing a product processing date and a maintenance date instruction status according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a multi-chamber apparatus partially including a plurality of chambers that perform the same processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a multi-chamber apparatus configured with a plurality of chambers for performing continuous processing according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing a product processing date and a maintenance date instruction status according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a procedure of a production management method in a conventional multi-chamber apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a product processing date / time and a maintenance date / time instruction status in a conventional multi-chamber apparatus.

[Description of Signs] S101 Product Processing Date / Time and Maintenance Date / Time Extraction Step S102 Maintenance Date / Time Synchronization Step S103 Product Processing Date / Time Adjustment Step S104 Product Processing Date / Time and Maintenance Date / Time Instruction Step 201 Device A 202 Chamber A1 203 Chamber A2 204 Chamber A3 205 Cassette BOX 401 Apparatus B 402 Chamber B1 403 Chamber B2 404 Chamber B3 405 Cassette BOX 501 Apparatus C 502 Chamber C1 503 Chamber C2 504 Chamber C3 505 Cassette BOX S701 Product processing date and maintenance date and time extraction step S702 Product processing date and maintenance date and time setting step S703 Product processing Date and time and maintenance date and time instruction process

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A production management method for determining a sequence of product processing and maintenance in a multi-chamber apparatus having a plurality of chambers, wherein a step of extracting an originally planned date and time of product processing and maintenance in each of the plurality of chambers is performed. And adjusting the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the other chambers in synchronization with the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that first reaches the maintenance date and time among the plurality of chambers; and Adjusting the product processing date and time of each chamber based on the maintenance completion date and time, and instructing the plurality of chambers the adjusted product processing date and maintenance date and time. Production management method for equipment. 2. A production management method for determining a sequence of product processing and maintenance in a multi-chamber apparatus having a plurality of chambers, wherein a step of extracting date and time of originally planned product processing and maintenance in each of the plurality of chambers is performed. Setting a scheduled maintenance start date and time of a chamber requiring the longest maintenance time among all the chambers before the scheduled maintenance start date and time of the chamber that first reaches the maintenance date and time among the plurality of chambers, Adjusting the maintenance of the other chambers to be started and completed within the maintenance time of the chamber requiring time, and setting the product processing date and time of each chamber based on the adjusted maintenance completion date and time of each chamber. Adjusting, and adjusting A production management method in a multi-chamber apparatus, comprising a step of instructing the adjusted product processing date and time and maintenance date and time to the plurality of chambers. 3. The step of adjusting the product processing date and time of each chamber includes the step of: when the initially planned product processing date and time in each chamber overlaps with the longest maintenance time among the adjusted maintenance times of each chamber.
3. The production management method according to claim 1, wherein the product processing is started after the maintenance requiring the longest maintenance time is completed. 4. When performing continuous processing of a product in the multi-chamber apparatus, when a product processing date and time initially planned in each of the chambers overlaps a longest maintenance time among the adjusted maintenance times of each of the chambers. 3. The production management method in a multi-chamber apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the maintenance requiring the longest maintenance time is completed, the first processing of the product to be continuously processed is started.