Architecture for simulation-based performance assessment of planning approaches in semiconductor manufacturing

Complex manufacturing systems, such as wafer fabrication facilities (wafer fabs), are characterized by a diverse product mix that is changing over time, re-entrant process flows due to expensive machinery, different process types, and different kinds of internal and external disruptions. In this paper, we introduce a simulation-based architecture dedicated to performance assessment that has been initially designed for pure production control schemes and finally extended to planning algorithms. After the description of the framework and its implementation, the performance of two mid-term planning approaches is assessed with the help of the proposed architecture. The planning performance is evaluated by means of a stability measure in a rolling horizon environment. Some computational results are presented.