Method and system for determining operator staffing

A method of determining a total number of operators needed at a semiconductor wafer work center to achieve a wafer manufacturing goal, the work center including a wafer lot tracking system and a plurality of processing stations for processing a plurality of lots of semiconductor wafers to be manufactured, the method comprising the steps of:

• determining a highest operator throughput as a maximum rate of wafers that can be processed per operator based on data from the lot tracking system;
• determining a minimum number of operators that are needed to process wafers in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the wafer manufacturing goal and the highest operator throughput;
• determining a number of working operators that are needed to process wafers in the work center to achieve the wafer manufacturing goal by increasing the minimum number of operators based on characteristics of the processing stations;
• determining an operator availability based on an average number of working operators processing wafers and a number of all operators at the work center;
• and
• determining the total number of operators needed at the semiconductor wafer work center to achieve the wafer manufacturing goal based on the operator availability, the number of working operators, a work center operating time and a working time per operator.

A method of determining a total number of operators needed at a work center to achieve a manufacturing goal, the work center including a product tracking system and a plurality of processing stations for processing products to be manufactured, the method comprising the steps of:

• setting the manufacturing goal;
• determining a highest operator throughput as a maximum rate of products that can be processed per operator based on data from the product tracking system;
• determining a minimum number of operators that are needed to process products in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the manufacturing goal and the highest operator throughput;
• determining a number of working operators that are needed to process products in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal by increasing the minimum number of operators based on characteristics of the processing stations;
• determining an operator availability based on an average number of working operators processing products and a number of all operators at the work center;
• and
• determining the total number of operators needed at the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the operator availability and the number of working operators.

A system for determining a total number of operators needed at a semiconductor wafer work center to achieve a wafer manufacturing goal, the work center including a wafer lot tracking system and a plurality of processing stations for processing a plurality of lots of semiconductor wafers to be manufactured, the system comprising:

• means for determining a highest operator throughput as a maximum rate of wafers that can be processed per operator based on data from the lot tracking system;
• means for determining a minimum number of operators that are needed to process wafers in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the wafer manufacturing goal and the highest operator throughput;
• means for determining a number of working operators that are needed to process wafers in the work center to achieve the wafer manufacturing goal by increasing the minimum number of operators based on characteristics of the processing stations;
• means for determining an operator availability based on an average number of working operators and a number of all operators at the work center;
• and
• means for determining the total number of operators needed at the semiconductor wafer work center to achieve the wafer manufacturing goal based on the operator availability and the number of working operators.

A system for determining a total number of operators needed at a work center to achieve a manufacturing goal, the work center including a product tracking system and a plurality of processing stations for processing products to be manufactured, the system comprising:

• means for determining a highest operator throughput as a maximum rate of products that can be processed per operator based on data from the product tracking system;
• means for determining a minimum number of operators that are needed to process products in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the manufacturing goal and the highest operator throughput;
• means for determining a number of working operators that are needed to process products in the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal by increasing the minimum number of operators based on characteristics of the processing stations;
• means for determining an operator availability based on an average number of working operators and a number of all operators at the work center;
• and
• means for determining the total number of operators needed at the work center to achieve the manufacturing goal based on the operator availability and the number of working operators.