Capacity and productivity modeling for research laboratories using a representative product load

Efficient use of R&D laboratory resources including fabrication and metrology tools, analytical equipment, and operators and technicians is critical to product development, time to market, and ultimately company success. Capacity and productivity modeling in R&D fabs presents significant challenges and is not usually well understood. Simulation modeling can provide an accurate representation of the R&D fab that can be used to investigate the operational aspects of the fab and provide a quantitative statistical analysis of fab performance measures. A simulation study of the Semiconductor & Microsystems Fabrication Laboratory (SMFL) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is used to present a case study on this methodology. A baseline CMOS process is used as the representative product load, which accounts for the variety of research activities in progress in the SMFL. The fab performance is assessed by the cycle time, WIP, and throughput of representative load lots.