A model predictive control approach for real-time optimization of reentrant manufacturing lines

This paper outlines the techniques used for automating the process of regularly generating statistical summaries as well as control charts for a large number of semiconductor process steps by integrating the capabilities of SAS, Unix, OpenVMS, Promis and HTML. The resulting information, including over 1200 control charts, is updated daily without human intervention, and made available in a user-friendly manner on the SPC Website. The sole statistician can thus devote his time to activities that need his personal attention. Texas Instruments,2 is in the process of patenting the automation technology that has been summarized in this paper.