Manufacturing execution system (MES) for semiconductor manufacturing

In the context of the CIM architecture, the manufacturing execution system (MES) provides information and control decision links between the production planning system at the higher level and the equipment control system at the lower level. Most of the conventional MES systems were first designed and implemented in "island-like" proprietary database systems, which renders the system integration of more advanced extension applications less attainable. In contrast, this study addresses the analysis of requirements, design and implementation of an integrated MES on an open architecture that is readily accessible for further system integration. The complete MES of our design is structurally composed of (1) MES database, a relational database, that consists of modules of product flow definition, lot management, equipment control, and Work-In-Process (WIP); (2) MES transaction that allows data to be updated and retrieved by other decision modules, in particular, cell controllers, on the open architecture platform; and (3) MES Web server that allows users to configure, query, and update the MES database over the Internet.