Patent ID: 7007038

Claim:
A computer-implemented manufacturing quality information database for tracking quality information relating to a manufacturing process, comprising; a symptom data entity storing symptoms, which are observable states indicative of manufacturing process defects; a defect data entity storing defects of the manufacturing process; a defect category data entity for storing defect categories of the manufacturing process; said defect data entity being associated with said defect category data entity; an action data entity storing repair actions for remedying related defects; said defect data entity being associated with said symptom data entity; and said action data entity being associated with said defect data entity wherein said manufacturing quality information database tracks a plurality of manufacturing processes, the manufacturing quality information database further comprising: a process data entity storing identities of the manufacturing processes; a symptom category data entity storing symptom categories of manufacturing defects; observing a relationship frequency among the manufacturing process identities, the symptom categories and the defect categories; and storing the relationship frequency in a process/symptom/defect frequency data entity.