Patent ID: 7356378

Claim:
A factory automation system for a wafer fabrication facility (â€œfabâ€) comprising a plurality of bays, wherein each of the bays comprise a plurality of equipment interconnected by an intrabay overhead transport (â€œOHTâ€) system, and at least one interbay OHT system for interconnecting the intrabay OHT systems, the factory automation system comprising: a manufacturing execution system (â€œMESâ€) for providing lot information regarding wafers being processed in the fab; a material control system (â€œMCSâ€) for providing dynamic traffic information regarding transportation of wafers in the fab; an automated material handling system (â€œAMHSâ€) for providing static route information regarding transportation of wafers in the fab; and a real-time dispatching (â€œRTDâ€) system for using the lot information from the MES, the dynamic traffic information from the MCS, and the static route information from the AMHS for selecting a destination and a route to the selected destination for a wafer carrier containing wafers in response to a transfer request.