A Batching and Scheduling Algorithm for the Diffusion Area in Semiconductor Manufacturing

This paper proposes an efficient heuristic algorithm for solving a complex batching and scheduling problem in a diffusion area of a semiconductor plant. Diffusion is frequently bottleneck in the plant and also one of the most complex areas in terms of number of machines, constraints to satisfy and the large number of lots to manage. The purpose of this study is to investigate an approach to group lots in batches and to schedule these batches on machines. The problem is modeled through a disjunctive graph formulation. A constructive algorithm is proposed and improvement procedures based on iterative sampling and Simulated Annealing are developed. Computational experiments, carried out on actual industrial problem instances, show the ability of the iterative sampling to significantly improve the initial solution. The Simulated Annealing enhances the results of the iterative sampling. The constructive algorithm has been embedded in a software and is currently being used.