Patent ID: 7953507

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of inspecting auxiliary equipment in a manufacturing process, said method comprising: providing auxiliary equipment comprising a plurality of reticles capable of being inspected; creating, by a computing device, a list of potential reticles for inspection; designating, by said computing device, said potential reticles according to inspection requirements comprising warning limits and inhibit limits associated with inspecting said reticles; prioritizing, by said computing device, said potential reticles into a prioritized list according to designations including: a dispatchable wafer lot and inhibit limits categorizations; dispatchable wafer lots and warning limits categorizations; work-in-process projections within a specified time window and said inhibit limits categorizations; and work-in-process projections within said specified time window and said warning limits categorizations; reprioritizing, by said computing device, said potential reticles into a second prioritized list from said prioritized list according to designations including: deprioritizing said potential reticles from a highest priority dispatchable wafer lot, based on an inhibit limit less a wafer count being greater than a number of pending wafers; and deprioritizing said potential reticles from a projected arrival time of first wafer lot at a lithography work-in-process stocker based on an inhibit limit less said wafer count being greater than a number of wafers in said time window, subject to timing and available capacity at a reticle crib; removing, by said computing device, said potential reticles from said re-prioritized list that are covered by a duplicate reticle where: reticles over an inhibit limit but covered by said duplicate reticle that are available under said warning limit are de-prioritized according to projected arrival time of said first wafer lot at said lithography work-in-process stocker; and reticles that are over a warning limit but covered by said duplicate reticle that are under said warning limit are de-prioritized according to projected arrival time of said first wafer lot at said lithography work-in-process stocker.