Semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and control method thereof

A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus including a plurality of processing apparatuses successively drawing out and processing a plurality of semiconductor wafers which constitute a process lot, said processing apparatuses having a standby port where a next-processed lot which is to be processed after said process lot is on standby, said manufacturing apparatus further including a stocker holding a lot to be transported to said standby port, comprising:

• prediction means for predicting when processing starts for a last semiconductor wafer among semiconductor wafers which were on standby in said processing apparatus and consequently there is no standby wafer left in said processing apparatus;
• time setting means for setting transfer starting time when transfer of a next-processed lot to said standby port is started to enable processing of semiconductor wafers to start successively after said last semiconductor wafer is processed, said starting time being set by using said time when there is no standby wafer left in said processing apparatus;
• lot selecting means for selecting said next-processed lot;
• and
• transfer means for transferring said next-processed lot to said processing apparatus at or after said transfer starting time.