Patent ID: 7416472

Claim:
A microfeature workpiece processing system, comprising: a first processing unit for performing a first process; a second processing unit for performing a second process; a programmable controller, the programmable controller being programmed to: receive thickness change information indicative of a thickness change caused by processing a preceding microfeature workpiece in a first process with the first processing unit and in a second process with at least one of the first and second processing units; determine a modified thickness change by reducing a thickness change of the preceding workpiece by a thickness offset associated with the second process; determine a thickness change factor for the preceding microfeature workpiece as a function of the modified thickness change and a first process time of the preceding microfeature workpiece for the first processing unit; receive initial thickness information indicative of a target thickness change for an incoming microfeature workpiece; estimate a target processing time for the first process as a function of the target thickness change and the thickness change factor; and cause the first processing unit to process the incoming microfeature workpiece for the target processing time.