Management of move requests from a factory system to an automated material handling system

A manufacturing system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• an automated material handling system (AMHS) which moves material around the factory;
• a factory system for generating move requests for moving material, each move request having a designated target;
• and
• a broker system coupled to the factory system and the AMHS for receiving a move request from the factory system and selectively passing the move request to the AMHS based on a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the AMHS, said one or more conditions of the AMHS including that the designated target does not have an excessive number of previously received move requests that are backlogged for the designated target, the excessive number defined by a threshold limit for the designated target.

A system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• an automated material handling system (AMHS) which moves material around the factory;
• a factory system for generating move requests for moving material;
• and
• a broker system coupled to the factory system and the AMHS for receiving a move request from the factory system and selectively passing the move request to the AMHS based a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the AMHS, wherein the move request includes a location and wherein the broker system selectively passes the move request by storing the move request in a queue for the identified location in the move request, wherein the broker system compares the number of move requests in an active queue for the location against a threshold limit and stores the move request in the active queue only if the number of move requests in the active queue are equal to or less than the threshold limit, and wherein the broker system compares a number of move requests in an active queue for a destination tool against a threshold limit and stores the move request in the active queue only if the number of move requests in the active queue is equal to or less than the threshold limit.

A system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• an automated material handling system (AMHS) which moves material around the factory;
• a factory system for generating move requests for moving material;
• and
• a broker system coupled to the factory system and the AMHS for receiving a move request from the factory system and selectively passing the move request to the AMHS based a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the AMHS, wherein the move request includes a location and wherein the broker system selectively passes the move request by storing the move request in a queue for the identified location in the move request, wherein the broker system compares the number of move requests in an active queue for the location against a threshold limit and stores the move request in the active queue only if the number of move requests in the active queue are equal to or less than the threshold limit, and wherein the broker system moves the move request from a pending queue to the active queue for a tool when the number of move requests in the active queue falls below the threshold limit.

A manufacturing system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• means for moving material around the factory;
• means for generating move requests for moving material, each move request having a designated target;
• and
• means coupled to the moving means and the generating means, for receiving a move request from the generating means and selectively passing the move request to the moving means based on a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the moving means, said one or more conditions including that the designated target does not have an excessive number of previously received move requests that are backlogged for the designated target, the excessive number defined by a threshold limit for the designated target.

A manufacturing system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• means for moving material around the factory;
• means for generating move requests for moving material;
• and
• means coupled to the moving means and the generating means, for receiving a move request from the generating means and selectively passing the move request to the moving means based on a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the moving means, wherein the move request includes a destination tool, and wherein the receiving and passing means
• selectively passes the move request by storing the move request in a queue for the destination tool in the move request, and
• compares the number of move requests in an active queue for the destination tool against a threshold limit and stores the move request in the active queue only if a number of move requests in the active queue is equal to or less than the threshold limit.

A manufacturing system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• means for moving material around the factory;
• means for generating move requests for moving material;
• and
• means coupled to the moving means and the generating means, for receiving a move request from the generating means and selectively passing the move request to the moving means based on a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the moving means, wherein the move request includes a destination tool, and wherein the receiving and passing means
• selectively passes the move request by storing the move request in a queue for the destination tool in the move request, and
• stores the move request in a pending queue if a number of move requests in the active queue exceeds the threshold limit.

A manufacturing system for managing move requests in a factory, comprising:

• means for moving material around the factory;
• means for generating move requests for moving material;
• and
• means coupled to the moving means and the generating means, for receiving a move request from the generating means and selectively passing the move request to the moving means based on a comparison of the move request with one or more conditions of the moving means, wherein the move request includes a destination tool, and wherein the receiving and passing means
• selectively passes the move request by storing the move request in a queue for the destination tool in the move request, and
• moves the move request from the pending queue to the active queue for the tool when a number of move requests in the active queue falls below the threshold limit.

A method of managing move requests from a factory system to an automated material handling system (AMHS), comprising:

• receiving a move request from the factory system, the received move request including a designated target;
• providing a queue for the designated target, the queue including a number of stored move requests;
• comparing the number of stored move requests in the queue to a threshold limit;
• storing the received move request in the queue only if the number of move requests in the queue does not exceed the threshold limit;
• and
• using the queue, selectively passing the stored move requests to the AMHS.