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AssigneeAnalog Devices, Inc.
InventorsWilliam H. Carlson, Jr., Paul H. Shafer
Estimating the term…
A system for controlling the flow of semiconductor products and their components through a production facility including assembly and final testing of a large number of different products with multiple product grades. The system stores information on the demand and inventory of all product grades together with grade distribution data giving the yield of all co-products of a product family from testing the common component of that family. The system includes means for calculating the number of common components to be tested to cover the requirements for all co-products of a family. The distribution data also gives the yield of all by-products of a test for particular products, and the system operates to adjust the inventory status for other products corresponding to such by-products, to avoid excess production of such other products in meeting projected demand. For cases where the data indicate for any product family a surplus of a higher grade and a shortage of a lower grade, the system includes means to decide whether to downgrade a portion of the higher grade to the lower grade; the projected inventory status of each grade is adjusted accordingly.
In combination in a system for controlling the flow of a plurality of products and components thereof through the assembly and testing procedures of a manufacturing operation comprising plural sequential process steps, including the development of an assembly and test schedule for the successive periods of a forward planning time frame, and wherein the products are arranged in families comprising different grades meeting respective performance specifications corresponding to different quality ratings, said system including data file means for storing information representing the inventory status of each product grade and the expected demand for each product grade during each of said periods, said system being of the type which is arranged to make calculations with respect to such stored information so as to determine the net requirements for each product grade during each of said successive time periods;
In combination in a system for controlling the flow of a plurality of products and components thereof through testing procedures of a manufacturing operation comprising plural sequential process steps, said system including means for developing an assembly and test schedule setting forth the planning goals for each of the products for the successive periods of a forward planning time frame, each of the products being required to meet respective performance specifications to be designated as such product, said system including data file means for storing information representing the inventory status of each product and the expected demand for each product during each of said periods, said system being of the type which is arranged to make calculations with respect to such stored information so as to determine the net requirements for each product;
In combination in a system for controlling the flow of a plurality of products and components thereof through the assembly and testing procedures of a manufacturing operation comprising plural sequential process steps, including the development of an assembly and test schedule for the successive periods of a forward planning time frame, and wherein the products are organized in families comprising different grades meeting respective performance specifications corresponding to different quality ratings, said system including data file means for storing information representing the inventory status of each product grade and the expected demand for each product grade during each of said periods, said system being of the type which is arranged to make calculations with respect to such stored information so as to determine the net requirements for each product grade during each of said successive time periods;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.