Developing a decision support system for optimizing automated wafer fabrication

A decision support system (DSS) was developed to help managers and engineers in the Factory Automation Group of Intel Corporation select the most appropriate solutions to strategic and operational problems that are encountered when trying to automate wafer-fabrication processes. The primary objective of the DSS was to help identify, and select from among the many alternatives, only those options that provide the highest manufacturing improvements and cost effectiveness for fab automation. For the development of the DSS, a project team was drawn from various disciplines of design, manufacturing, automation, and finance in Intel. The DSS resulted in first identifying critical issues that influenced manufacturing. A sensitivity analysis was then performed on the influencing factors, and the variations in results were interpreted. The results were then evaluated using risk analysis and value engineering principles, which caused some alternatives to be discarded. The team then recommended manufacturing planes based only on those viable alternatives.<>