Remote maintenance system and remote maintenance method for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus

18 A vendor-side server in a remote maintenance system for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus belonging to a manager who executes maintenance management for at least one semiconductor manufacturing apparatus installed at a factory by receiving status information with regard to said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus collected at a factory-side client operating at the factory via a network enabling bidirectional communication, comprising:

• a judgment unit that executes a judgment based upon said status information as to whether or not an abnormality or a semi-abnormality has occurred in said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus corresponding to said status information;
• a database unit having stored therein maintenance information with regard to said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;
• and
• a transmission/reception unit that receives said status information from said factory-side client and transmits information or an instruction to said factory-side client.

A method for executing remote maintenance for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, in conjunction with:

• a factory-side client operating at a factory where at least one semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed:
• a vendor-side server belonging to a manager who executes maintenance management for said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;
• and
• a network that connects said factory-side client and said vendor-side server with each other so as to enable bidirectional communication, wherein:
• said factory-side client collects status information with regard to said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and transmits said status information having been collected to said vendor-side server via said network;
• and
• the vendor-side server executes a judgment based upon said status information and maintenance information with regard to said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus as to whether or not an abnormality or a semi-abnormality has occurred in said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus corresponding to said status information and said maintenance information and transmits information reflecting the results of the judgment to said factory-side client.

A method for executing remote maintenance for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, in conjunction with:

• a customer-side server that manages a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus installed in a factory;
• and
• a management-side server that is connected with said customer-side server via a network enabling bidirectional communication and manages said customer-side server, wherein:
• said customer-side server collects apparatus information that includes operating state information and failure information with regard to said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus installed at said factory and maintenance state information indicating the state of maintenance conducted on said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus at the factory, and transmits said apparatus information having been collected to said management-side server;
• and
• said management-side server ascertains the operating state and the failure state of said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the state of the maintenance conducted on said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus at a factory based upon said apparatus information, selects an optimal corrective measures from corrective measures stored in a database and transmits information indicating the selected corrective measure to said customer-side server.