Patent ID: 7395130

Claim:
A method comprising: detecting conditions in an electronic device fabrication facility including: determining a route a workpiece included in a lot follows during fabrication, wherein the route includes at least one operation including a plurality of subdivisions, each of the plurality of subdivisions operable to perform a substantially similar operation to the workpiece and wherein the route includes no more than one of the plurality of subdivisions; measuring production data related to at least one manufacturing process performed during fabrication of the lot produced in the electronic device fabrication facility, wherein the production data includes at least one measurement taken directly on the workpiece included in the lot, and at least one measurement of conditions of the manufacturing process performed during fabrication of the lot that is not taken directly on the workpiece; measuring facility data during the fabrication of the lot, the facility data related to the entire electronic device fabrication facility and taken from sources not directly related to the at least one manufacturing process; storing measured data relevant to the route the workpiece followed during fabrication including the measured production data and the measured facility data taken during the fabrication of the lot in a data set of the workpiece, analyzing the data set of the workpiece; determining current conditions using the analysis; and applying a process control to the route based on the analysis.