JP2002341920A - Method and device for managing production of semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make up for delay by performing start order control to perform an operation to lots with higher degrees of delay by taking priority over the lots with lower degrees of delay than a group of lots worked in a semiconductor production device in a production controller using the degree of delay. SOLUTION: In the production managing method of the semiconductor device to manage production of products through a production line in which products with different degrees of keeping delivery coexist, all manufacturing processes are divided into a plurality of groups of processes, delivery management is performed by unit of group of processes and the number of the groups of processes to be divided is increased as the product with higher importance of keeping delivery.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a production control method and a production control apparatus for a semiconductor device for producing and controlling each product via a production line in which products or lots having different degrees of delivery are mixed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A first prior art relating to a conventional production management method and production control apparatus is described in "Production Progress Control Method and Apparatus" of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-35965.

In the first prior art, products that are similar in manufacturing process are grouped from various products, and a process that repeatedly passes in the manufacturing process is set as a key process, and the process is divided into process groups by the key process. .

By performing progress control and work instructions in the key steps, the entire flow is grasped macroscopically, and efficient and stable distribution control is always performed on the divided steps. It is intended to be.

[0005] However, the first prior art has a function of optimizing the entire production line, but in the case where lots having different degrees of importance of the delivery deadlines are mixedly flowed, the delivery of the lots must be completed in all processes. There was a problem that it was not possible to control over.

[0006] The reason is that the progress control and the work instruction are performed only in the key process. Further, even when the degree of delay is used as the management index, if there is a lot of the same degree of delay in the same key process, the handling of the work instruction becomes equivalent.

A second prior art relating to the conventional production management method is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-203442, entitled "Production Line Planning Method".

In the second prior art, a value of a margin time with respect to a delivery date of a final process is referred to as a margin and used as a management index.
When there is a step to be processed in the next step, there is a function of changing the margin and taking into account the waiting time in front of the next step apparatus, thereby changing the work clothes procedure.

The second prior art aims at preventing a delivery delay in a single lot and reducing non-operation time of the entire line.

However, the second prior art has a problem in that it is not possible to perform production control in consideration of lots having different degrees of importance of delivery date compliance.

The reason is that there is no mechanism for adding the importance of observing the lot delivery date to the margin as a management index.

For example, when a plurality of lots having different degrees of importance of delivery date compliance but having the same margin are working on the same key process, they are treated as equivalent in terms of progress control.

[0013]

In most custom semiconductor LSIs, the production delivery date is determined for each order, and compliance with the production delivery date is an important management item in production management. ing.

In a line for producing a custom LSI, a lot in which the degree of due date compliance is strict and a lot in which the degree of delivery is not strict are mixed.

For example, for a product with a small number of products such as a technical sample, it is most important to keep a delivery date for a customer in order to secure a mass production order thereafter.

On the other hand, a mass-produced product that produces a large quantity has a small variation in the delivery date of each lot.
Since it is sufficient to secure the number of deliveries as the entire quantity, the management of delivery date compliance may be relatively rough.

In order to increase the compliance rate of a lot with strict delivery date compliance, it is necessary to control more sensitively to a production delay than other lots.

Generally, in the latter half of the manufacturing process, even if the number of delay days is the same, it is difficult to recover the delay because there is no margin in the subsequent manufacturing schedule. In order to prevent this, from the beginning of production, it is necessary to sensitively control production delays.

In order to manage the delivery date compliance, it is common to use, as an index, the progress of the final production delivery date for each process unit.

As a specific index, the ratio of the planned construction period from the current work-in-process to the receiving process and the required construction period from the current work-in-process to the receiving process, which appears as a result of the actual progress, is a so-called delay advance index. Represent. In the present invention, this is called a degree of delay.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a production control device utilizing a degree of delay in a lot group which has been set up in a semiconductor production device. An object of the present invention is to recover a delay by performing a receiving procedure control in which a lot with a higher delay is given priority over a lot with a lower delay.

[0022]

According to the production control method of the present invention, in a production control method of a semiconductor device for controlling production through a production line in which products having different degrees of delivery are mixed. The manufacturing process is divided into a plurality of process groups, and delivery date management is performed for each process group, and the number of process groups to be divided is increased for products with higher importance of delivery date compliance.

Here, the semiconductor device is, for example, a custom LSI.

In the above delivery date management, preferably,
For each process unit, the progress of the final production delivery date is used as an index.

For example, as the index, a ratio between a planned work period from the current work-in-progress process to the storage process and a required work period from the current work-in-process to the storage process, which appears as a result of actual progress, is used as the degree of delay.

Under such circumstances, the delay is controlled by performing the arrival procedure control in which a lot with a higher degree of delay than the group of lots set in the semiconductor production equipment is given priority over a lot with a lower degree of delay. I tried to recover.

Further, a target work period is set for each of the process groups, the final process of each process group is set as a milestone, and the delivery date is managed for each process group so as to comply with the delivery date of the milestone process.

Here, the number of divisions of the process group is arbitrarily set to a product unit or a lot unit according to the importance of due date compliance.

Here, the variable setting of the number of divisions of the process group is performed by increasing the number of divisions for the lot with the high importance of the due date and decreasing the number of divisions for the lot with the low importance of the due date. It is preferred to be carried out by

In the division of the process group, it is desirable that the number of processes in the process group is set to be smaller as the process group in the subsequent process is completed.

Further, an upper limit value and a lower limit value of the degree of delay are set for each process group according to the importance of the delivery date compliance.

In this case, the upper limit value and the lower limit value are set to smaller values as the importance of delivery date compliance increases.

Further, the upper limit value and the lower limit value may be gradually set to smaller values as the process group of the preceding process changes from the process group of the preceding process.

Further, according to the production management apparatus of the present invention, in the production management apparatus of a semiconductor device for controlling production of each product through a production line in which products having different degrees of delivery are mixed, the lot information creation function is provided. , A second computer for executing a start instruction function, a lot information input terminal for an operator to input data to the first computer, and an on-line or A work report terminal for obtaining the work end date and time of each process, a data storage device for storing data necessary for the first and second computers, and an operator or A work start instruction terminal for notifying another system, wherein the first and second computers are
Controls according to the importance of on-time delivery.

Here, the data necessary for the first and second computers are, for example, manufacturing specification data, upper and lower limit data, work schedule data and work performance data. .

Further, the control according to the importance of compliance with the delivery date divides the entire manufacturing process into a plurality of process groups, manages the delivery date for each process group, and divides the product as the importance of compliance with the delivery date is higher. This is performed by increasing the number of process groups.

[0037]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a production control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The configuration of the production control device includes a computer 1 operated by a program, a computer 2, a lot information input terminal 3, and a work report terminal 4.

The computer 1 executes the lot information creation function shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The computer 2 is a computer that executes a start instruction function.

The lot information input terminal 3 is for an operator to input data to the computer 1.

The work report terminal 4 is for obtaining the work end date and time of each process from the semiconductor production equipment 11 online or via an operator.

Further, it has manufacturing specification data 5, upper and lower limit data 6, work schedule data 7, and work performance data 8 which are data required for the computers 1 and 2. Each data is stored in a data storage device.

Further, a work start instruction terminal 10 is provided for notifying an operator or another system of a processing result of the computer 2.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the first embodiment will be described.

The flow is composed of a lot information creation function (a) executed for each lot and a start instruction function (b) for determining a work procedure for the lot.

First, the flow (a) of the lot information creation function
Will be described.

The input of the lot information in step 20 is as shown in FIG.
Input the product name of the lot to be input, the expected date of input, the expected date of completion of work in the final process, and the importance of observing the delivery date of the lot from the lot information input terminal 3 of FIG. This is stored in data 7.

The input of the manufacturing specification in step 21 is to automatically extract the manufacturing specification of the lot from the manufacturing specification data 5 in FIG.

The contents of the manufacturing specification include the process name of each process from the input process to the final process and the I
D, standard operation time, and transport time.

The calculation of the scheduled work date of each process in step 22 is performed on the scheduled work date of each process for all the processes and is stored in the scheduled work data 7 of FIG.

The calculation of the scheduled work date is performed as follows by using the formula 1 based on the manufacturing specifications obtained in step 21.

Formula 1 Calculation formula of scheduled work date Scheduled work date = Scheduled input date + (Target construction period) × (Total sum of standard work time and transfer time from the input process to the process /
(Calculation example) The process 150 is calculated for the lot A in the calculation example of the degree of delay in FIG.

In the production specifications of the lot A, the standard operation time and the transport time are the same for each process.

Input date: January 1 0:00 Scheduled warehousing date: January 31 0:00 Target construction period: 30 days Standard working time of each process: 0.09 days (Each process is the same) Transport of each process Time: 0.01 day (Each process is the same) Scheduled work date of process 150 = (1 January, 0:00) + (30 days) x {(0.09 days + 0.01 days) x 150 processes} / {(0.09 day + 0.01 day) × 300 steps} = (January 1 0:00) + (30 days) × (15 days / 30 days) = (January 1 0:00) + (15th) = January 16 0:00 In the determination of the division process group in step 23, the number of division process groups is determined based on the importance of observing the delivery date of the lot, and the final process of each process group is determined. 1 is input. The final process in each process group functions as a milestone in production management. The input is performed by the operator from the lot information input terminal 3 in FIG.

Next, a method of dividing a process group will be described.

For example, in the case of a product having 300 manufacturing processes, all the manufacturing processes of a lot with the lowest importance of the delivery date are regarded as one process group. That is, the milestone process is only the 300th process.

On the other hand, a lot having a high degree of importance of the delivery date compliance is divided into a plurality of process groups, and the number of processes is set to be smaller as the process group becomes later. The final process of each process group is a milestone process.

In an actual production line, taking into account the balance of the entire input lot, the number of process groups that are divided step by step in the descending order of importance of delivery date compliance is increased.

(Example of Division) 1) Lot with the lowest importance Number of divisions: 1 division Number of steps per process group Division 1 300 steps 2) Lot of medium importance division Number of divisions: 2 divisions Number of steps in the processing group Category 1 Category 2 200 processes 100 processes 3) Lot with the highest importance Number of divisions: 4 categories Number of processes in the process group Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 150 processes 100 processes 50 processes 20 processes Next, the delay of step 24 Before describing the determination of the upper and lower limit values, the method of calculating the degree of delay, which is the determination order of the work clothes procedure of the lot, and the relationship between the values will be described.

Equation 2 Calculation formula for delay degree Delay degree = (planned manufacturing period from current in-process to final step of current process group) / (required manufacturing period from current in-process to final step of current process group) = (Scheduled work date of the last process of the current process group-Scheduled work date of the current process) / (Scheduled work date of the final process of the current process group-Scheduled work date of the current process + days delayed from the scheduled work date of the current process) The unit of each element of the above equation 2 is days or hours depending on the accuracy of the required delay.

In the above formula 2, when the value of the degree of delay is smaller than 1.0, it indicates that it is behind the scheduled work date.
A value greater than 1.0 indicates that it is ahead of plan.

A more specific description will be given based on a calculation example of the degree of delay shown in FIG.

The present example is a calculation result of a lot in the case where progress has been made with a delay of 10 days from the scheduled work date of each process from the beginning of the input.

The calculation is performed for the 150th process of the lot A where the process group is not divided.

The degree of delay in the 150th process = (the planned work date of the 300th process−the planned work date of the 150th process) / (the planned work date of the 300th process−the planned work date of the 150th process + 150th process Days) = (30.0-15.0) / (30.0-15.0 + 10.0) = 15.0 / 25.0 = 0.6 Determination of upper and lower limit of delay of step 24 Sets an upper limit value and a lower limit value for the value of the degree of delay in each process group of each lot.

First, the upper limit value and the lower limit value are set to predetermined values according to the importance of the delivery date compliance for the entire production line.

In a semiconductor production line, the same semiconductor production equipment may be used a plurality of times in all processes. Further, the milestone process in the delivery date management is often a process of evaluating product characteristics such as a measuring process.

Therefore, even if the lots are set in the same apparatus and have the same delay, the lots are not necessarily in the same process group. The lot of the post-process group is
Since the risk of delay is higher than the lot of the process group of the preceding process, the lot of the process group of the subsequent process should be given priority.

Therefore, in the present invention, the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the lot of the post-process group are set smaller than those of the preceding process group.

The upper limit value and the lower limit value of each process group of a lot are determined from the above-mentioned prescribed values of the entire production line based on the importance of the lot. Here, Table 1 shows an example of setting the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the degree of delay.

[0072]

[Table 1] Assuming that the importance of the lot B on the delivery date in the calculation example of the degree of delay in FIG. 3 is 1, as shown in Table 1, the lower limit of each process group is 0.3, 0.2, 0 in the order of each process group. .1,
0.0.

The above steps 20 to 24 are performed before and after the lot input. The input of the work day of each process in step 25 is performed in relation to the work of each process.

The input of the work day of each step in step 25 is as follows.
The work completion date is determined from the work report data of each process performed by the work report terminal 4 of FIG. 1, and the data is stored in the work result data 8 of FIG. 1 for each lot.

The determination of the last step in step 26 is a determination as to whether or not the work of the last step of the lot has been completed. If it is not the final step, the process returns to step 25 described above.

Next, a description will be given of the flow of the start instruction function (FIG. 2B) for calculating the degree of delay of each lot and determining the work start procedure from the in-process lot group.

This function is activated when the processing of the semiconductor production apparatus 11 is completed and it is necessary to determine the next work lot or when the arrival procedure is determined regularly.

The start instruction may be issued by the worker from the work start instruction terminal 10 of FIG. 1 or automatically started by a work end report from the work report terminal 4 as a trigger.

The calculation of the delay in step 30 is based on the value of the work schedule data 7 stored in step 22 and the value of the work performance data 8 obtained in step 25, using the delay calculation of equation 2 described in step 24. , Calculate the delay of the process.

The comparison with the upper and lower limit values in step 31 is to compare the value of the delay calculated in step 30 with the upper and lower limit values of the upper and lower limit data 6 in FIG.

If it is within the range, the process proceeds to the output of the delay data in step 33, and if it is out of the range, the process proceeds to the setting of the upper and lower limit values in step 32.

In the setting of the upper and lower limits in step 32, if the value of the delay exceeds the upper limit, if the value is below the upper limit, the lower limit is used as the delay of the lot. .

The output of the delay degree data in step 33 is stored in the delay degree data 9 of FIG.

The determination of all products in step 34 is for determining whether or not the processing of setting the degree of delay has been completed for all the target lots. If not, the process returns to the calculation of the degree of delay in step 30. Then, the delay of the remaining lots is calculated.

In the comparison of the degrees of delay in step 35, the lots are arranged in ascending order according to the values of the degrees of delay for all the target lots and stored in the degree of delay data 9 of FIG.

The work start instruction in step 36 selects the lot with the smallest delay value from the target lots stored in the delay degree data 9 in FIG. 1 and transmits it to the work start instruction terminal 10 in FIG. .

The worker carries the lot specified by the work start instruction terminal 10 of FIG. 1 to the semiconductor production apparatus 11 and starts the processing.

If the lot with the smallest delay is in a state where the work cannot be performed due to other factors, the lot with the next smallest delay is set as the work lot. Work start instruction terminal 1
In the list of lots arranged in ascending order of delay,
It also has a function that allows the operator to select a work lot in order.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

This effect will be described with reference to a calculation example of the degree of delay shown in FIG.

The first effect is that the strength of control of delivery date compliance can be changed according to the importance of delivery date compliance. The reason is that, since the final process of each process group is a milestone, not only the final process of the lot but also the degree of delay is set so as to comply with the scheduled work date of each milestone process.

The table in FIG. 3 shows that the lot A, in which the number of process groups is 1, because of the low importance of due date compliance, and the lot B, in which the number of divisions is 4 because of high importance, are 10 days from the beginning of input. The table shows the value of the degree of delay in each process when the process progresses to the final process with a delay. As for the lot B, the number of steps in the step group decreases as the number of later steps increases.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the first example of the change in the degree of delay shown in FIG.

In the lot A, the value of the degree of delay does not decrease unless it approaches the final process 300, whereas in the lot B, the value of the degree of delay decreases in each milestone process in a series.

This indicates that even with the same number of delay days, the work clothes procedure is further increased as compared with the lot A as each milestone process is approached.

The second effect is that the more controllable the delivery date of the final process is, the higher the importance of the delivery date is. The reason is that the setting of the upper limit value and the lower limit value does not reduce the degree of delay in a lot with a low importance of due date compliance as compared with a lot with a high lot.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the result of applying the upper limit and lower limit of the delay described in the flowchart of FIG. 2 to each lot.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, both the lot A managed by only one process group and the lot B managed by four process groups have the same delay degree in the process group M4 of the lot B. It has become the value of. However, when the upper limit and the lower limit are applied, as shown in the graph of FIG.

Also in the lot B, the value of the delay in the preceding process group does not become smaller than the value of the delay in the subsequent process group.

This indicates that a lot with a high degree of importance of delivery date compliance has a higher priority on a work start than a lot with a lower process group, and a lot of a post-process group has a higher priority than a lot of a preceding process group. As a result, the controllability of the on-time delivery is improved.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the first embodiment of the present invention (see FIG. 2). The calculation of the degree of delay in step 31, the determination of the upper and lower limits of step 31, and the upper and lower limits of step 32 The setting and the output of the delay degree data in step 33 are transferred to the lot information creation function.

The calculation of the degree of delay is performed at the end of the work in each step, and is stored in the work result data 8 by outputting the delay degree data in step 59.

In the flow of the start instruction function, the input of the delay degree data in step 70 is added instead of the above-mentioned steps being shifted. The input of the delay data in step 70 is to input the data of the delay of each lot to the computer 2 from the work result data 8 in FIG.

Next, advantages and disadvantages of comparing the first embodiment with the second embodiment will be described.

An advantage of the first embodiment is that, in the first embodiment, the work wear procedure is determined by calculating the degree of delay in real time at the timing when the work wear procedure must be determined. .

On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the accuracy is inferior because the comparison is made based on the delay value calculated in the past. Therefore, the second embodiment is not suitable for a production line having a lot of stagnated lots for a long time.

An advantage of the second embodiment is that in the second embodiment, the process of calculating the degree of delay for each lot is started when the work end is reported.
Is relatively small.

On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the start instruction function is used when the processing of the semiconductor production apparatus 11 is completed and it is necessary to determine the next work lot, or the arrival procedure is determined regularly. In such a case, since the computer 2 is started up in a batch process, the load on the computer 2 is likely to increase.

[0110]

According to the present invention, in a production control device utilizing a degree of delay, a lot having a higher degree of delay than a group of lots set in a semiconductor production apparatus is given priority over a lot having a lower degree of delay. The delay can be recovered by controlling the arrival procedure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a production control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a calculation example of a delay degree.

FIG. 4 is an example of a change in the degree of delay.

FIG. 5 is an example of another change in the degree of delay.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Computer 1 2 Computer 2 3 Lot information input terminal 4 Work report terminal 5 Manufacturing specification data 6 Upper / lower limit data 7 Work schedule data 8 Work performance data 9 Delay data 10 Work start instruction terminal 11 Semiconductor production equipment

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor device production management method for managing products through a production line in which products with different degrees of delivery compliance exist in a mixed manner, wherein all the manufacturing processes are divided into a plurality of process groups. A production control method for a semiconductor device, wherein a delivery date is managed for each group, and the number of process groups to be divided is increased for a product having a higher priority of delivery date compliance. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is a custom LSI. 3. The semiconductor device production management method according to claim 1, wherein in the delivery date compliance management, a progress of a delay from a final production delivery date is used as an index for each process unit. 4. As the index, a ratio of a planned work period from the current work-in-process to the receiving process and a required work period from the current work-in-process to the receiving process, which appears as a result of actual progress, is used as the degree of delay. 4. The production management method for a semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein a lot having a higher degree of delay than a group of lots set in the semiconductor production equipment is given priority over a lot having a lower degree of delay to perform a work order control, thereby reducing the delay. A method for managing production of a semiconductor device, characterized by recovering the semiconductor device. 6. A target work period is set for each process group, a final process of each process group is set as a milestone, and delivery date management is performed for each process group so as to comply with a delivery date of the milestone process. A method for managing production of a semiconductor device according to claim 1. 7. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the number of divisions of the process group is arbitrarily set to a product unit or a lot unit according to the importance of due date compliance. Production control method. 8. The variable setting of the number of divisions of the process group is performed by increasing the number of divisions for the lot with high importance of the due date and decreasing the number of divisions for the lot with low importance of the due date. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method is performed. 9. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein, in the division of the process group, the number of processes in the process group is set to be smaller as the process group in the subsequent process is completed, as compared with the process group in the preceding process. Equipment production management method. 10. The method according to claim 4, wherein an upper limit value and a lower limit value of the delay are set for each process group according to the importance of the due date compliance. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the upper limit value and the lower limit value are set to smaller values as the importance of due date compliance increases. 12. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the upper limit value and the lower limit value are set stepwise to smaller values as the process group changes from a preceding process group to a subsequent process group. Production control method. 13. A production management apparatus for a semiconductor device, which performs production management of each product via a production line in which products having different degrees of delivery date coexist are present, wherein the first computer executes a lot information creation function. A second computer for executing a start instruction function; a lot information input terminal for an operator to input data to the first computer; and a work end date and time for each process from a semiconductor production device online or via an operator. A work report terminal for obtaining the data, a data storage device for storing data necessary for the first and second computers, and a process for notifying an operator or another system of a processing result of the second computer. A work start instruction terminal, wherein the first and second computers perform control in accordance with the importance of meeting deadlines. Production control apparatus of the semiconductor device to be. 14. The semiconductor device according to claim 13, wherein the data required for the first and second computers are manufacturing specification data, upper and lower limit data, scheduled work data, and actual work data. Production management equipment. 15. The control according to the importance of adherence to the delivery date divides all the manufacturing processes into a plurality of process groups, manages the delivery date for each process group, and divides the product as the importance of adherence to the delivery date is higher. 14. The semiconductor device production management device according to claim 13, wherein the process is performed by increasing the number of process groups.