Interbay Automated Material Handling System stocker design for wafer fabrication facilities

The use of an interbay Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) for wafer fabrication facilities is prevalent for most of today’s fabs and those being designed for near future. The use of AMHS has the potential of enhancing the system performance in terms of reducing operating and capital costs, and improving tools utilization, productivity, yield, and safety. Among the issues that are associated with the installation of an AMHS, stocker design is perhaps the most critical element of an interbay AMHS. This paper proposes a systematic AMHS stocker design procedure to solve the stocker design problem effectively and efficiently. Its solution quality is illustrated by case study at a VLSI Technology wafer fabrication facility.