Manufacturing Operations System Design and Analysis

This paper describes manufacturing operations design and analysis at Intel. The complexities and forces of both the market and the manufacturing process combine to make the development of improved semiconductor fabrication manufacturing strategies (like lot dispatching, micro and macro scheduling policies, labor utilization, layout, etc.) particularly important. We present modeling as an effective way to further this improvement. We describe various categories of models and why they are useful. We present an overview of eight examples of how we are using modeling to improve manufacturing performance and cost. These summaries illustrate how millions of dollars have been saved in direct cost and/or cost avoidance. We conclude with a brief discussion of next steps and cautions for those establishing a manufacturing operations’ group.