Patent ID: 6842655

Claim:
In a process for processing at least one product, the process processing a plurality of lots of the product and comprising a sequence of process steps including a first process step, a queue for the process step, a plurality of lots of the product in the queue, and a machine used in the first process step to process the product, the improvements for increasing the efficiency of the process and reducing the time required for the product to complete the process, and including the computer-implemented steps of (a) determining the lots of the product in the queue of the first process step; (b) determining for each lot in the queue of the first process step the process step which was completed immediately prior to the lots' entering the queue of the first process step; (c) determining for each lot in the queue of the first process step (i) at least the next subsequent process step to be completed by the lot after the lot is processed during the first process step, (ii) the present queue size for the next subsequent process step, (iii) the historical average queue size for the next subsequent process step; (d) determining for the first process step (i) the present queue size, and (ii) the historical average queue size; (e) making a first determination by determining whether the present queue size for the next subsequent process step is one of a pair consisting of (i) greater than the historical average queue size for the next subsequent process step, and (ii) less than the historical average queue size for the next subsequent process step; (f) making a second determination by determining whether the present queue size for the first process step is one of a pair consisting of (i) greater than the historical average queue size of the first process step, and (ii) less than the historical average queue size of the first process step; and, (g) comparing for each lot the first determination with the second determination to prioritize which lot is selected for processing during the first process step.