A Novel Route Selection and Resource Allocation Approach to Improve the Efficiency of Manual Material Handling System in 200-mm Wafer Fabs for Industry 3.5

Motivated by realistic needs to enhance the productivity for 200-mm wafer fabs, this paper aims to propose a novel approach for manual material handling system (MMHS) to mimic functionalities of the automated material handling system in the advanced fabs without intensive capital investment to deliver the wafer lots manually and systematically. In particular, a mathematical model is developed to optimize the routing plan with two objectives that minimize the total traveling distance in all routes or minimize the number of manpower needed in all routes. Furthermore, a route planning approach is proposed to utilize the routes that reduce the technician traveling distance and transportation time for implementation. Also, a manpower loading index was developed for evaluating the number of needed technicians in the proposed MMHS. To estimate the validity of the proposed MMHS, we developed a simulation environment based on empirical data with different transportation requirement scenarios for comparison. The results have shown practical viability of the proposed approach.