Robustness of various production control policies in semiconductor manufacturing

This paper compares several different production control policies in terms of their robustness to random disturbances such as machine failures, demand fluctuations, and system parameter changes. Simulation models based on very large scale integration wafer fabrication facilities are utilized to test the performance of the policies. Three different criteria, namely, the average total work in process, the average backlog, and a cost function combining these measures, are used to evaluate performance. Among the policies tested, the Two-Boundary Control policy outperforms the others.