Method and apparatus for proactive dispatch system to improve line balancing

A system, comprising:

• a simulation environment capable of simulating at least one manufacturing process operation performed on a semiconductor wafer and generating simulation data;
• a process scheduling model in communication with said simulation environment, said process scheduling model capable of performing a process scheduling function based upon at least one of said simulation data and a metrology data, to control said process operation;
• and
• a process controller in communication with said process scheduling model, said process control capable of performing a line balancing function to control a processing of at least one semiconductor wafer based upon said process scheduling function said process controller to use a simulation environment based upon a wafer dispatch list, and determining a process scheduling based upon said processing simulation to balance at least one production line relating to a lot of semiconductor wafers.

A computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs a method, comprising:

• receiving at least one request for processing at least one semiconductor wafer;
• performing a line-balancing analysis based upon said request, said line-balancing analysis comprises performing a wafer processing manufacturing simulation using a simulation environment based upon a wafer dispatch list, and determining a process scheduling based upon said processing simulation to balance at least one production line relating to a lot of semiconductor wafers;
• and
• processing at least one semiconductor wafer based upon said line-balancing analysis.