Improved customer satisfaction with a hybrid dispatching rule in semiconductor back-end factories

Abstract

On-time delivery is a vital factor for customer satisfaction in the competitive semiconductor manufacturing industry, and to optimize on-time delivery manufacturers must continuously improve their management of work-in-progress (WIP). However, in undertaking to optimize WIP, managers are also concerned with short cycle times, high throughput, and high utilization. In an attempt to find the most satisfactory solution to these potentially conflicting requirements with regard to WIP, the present study employs fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine an appropriate set of acceptable WIP deviation levels (AWDLs). These AWDLs are then used in a proposed hybrid dispatching rule to determine the operational priorities of jobs. A simulation model using real-world data is then constructed to examine the proposed mechanism for improving customer satisfaction. The findings of the study confirm that the proposed mechanism is capable of simultaneous consideration of various goals and the achievement of enhanced performances with respect to due-date delivery from semiconductor back-end processes.

Keywords:

• Semiconductor manufacturing
• WIP balance
• Dispatching
• Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process