Materials lead time reduction in a semiconductor equipment manufacturing plant : process flow planning

Abstract

Process flow at a semiconductor tool manufacturer was studied with the goal of reducing production order lead time to 8 hours. Current material flow systems were studied and interviews with the involved personnel were conducted. Additionally, data was extracted and analyzed from the company's SAP Extended Warehouse Management database to analyze the past performance of the material flow group. Three areas for improvement were analyzed and recommendations were made regarding each area. First, it is recommended that an additional truck driver is hired and that a final delivery is made after the last warehouse worked stops working. This will reduce the time that parts wait for the truck to pick them up and eliminate any parts that wait overnight. Second, warehouse employees should start work earlier in the morning to complete sales picks; this will allow the rest of the workers to work on production orders in the morning, immediately after they are placed. Third, the tracking scans to put parts into and out of the consolidation areas should be removed. This will allow workers to preform the picking and consolidation steps faster. These recommendations are to be combined with other material flow improvements. It was determined that the goal of 8 hours lead time was unrealistic. However, calculations suggest that lead time will be reduced to 16 hours.