Dynamic Simulation Tool for Analysis of the Effects of Man-Machine Ratio on Test Manufacturing Productivity of a Semiconductor Company

A study was conducted on one of the leading semiconductor companies worldwide, focusing on its semiconductor units' testing process. To measure its testing area's performance, the company analyzes its established man-machine ratio (MMR) using the following metrics: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), average production cycle time, operator utilization, and the total number of units produced. Currently, the company uses static spreadsheet computations in its analysis. Still, the current method cannot capture the actual scenario of their processes, such as waiting times, queueing, and the random occurrence of machine downtimes. The aim was to develop a dynamic simulation tool that can capture the actual scenario, which will then be used for MMR analysis. Using FlexSim, a dynamic simulation model of the testing area was developed. After performing simulation runs, the current MMR of 1:5 was analyzed using the different metrics. The resulting model also developed features in which various changes within the system were performed, allowing the company to predict the possible outcomes of those changes. These changes include changing the current MMR, changing the input values, and monitoring the system’s performance across time.