Abnormal State Analysis Support in Substrate Processing Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In substrate processing systems, analyzing abnormal states is often difficult and time-consuming for maintenance engineers due to the need to check numerous candidate items, leading to potential incorrect analysis or wasted time, especially when dealing with distant equipment or large data sets.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing system comprising a substrate processing apparatus and a group managing apparatus that stores apparatus type information and check item information, allowing the analysis support unit to extract necessary check items based on abnormal state and apparatus type, preparing a check item table for rapid and correct analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If maintenance engineers manually check multiple candidate items to analyze abnormal states, then analysis completeness may improve, but analysis time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes a check item table that associates different abnormal state types with their corresponding necessary check items. When an abnormal state occurs, the system automatically retrieves and presents the relevant check items from this pre-prepared table, eliminating the need for engineers to manually determine which items to check and reducing analysis time while ensuring completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an abnormal state analysis support system as an intermediary between the engineer and the complex data collection process. This system automatically collects and presents relevant data from multiple sources based on the selected check items, acting as a mediator that handles the time-consuming data gathering while the engineer focuses on analysis.
2Adaptability or versatility
If maintenance engineers collect data from multiple distant substrate processing apparatuses, then comparative analysis capability improves, but data collection time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The check item table and data collection system are designed to be universal across multiple substrate processing apparatuses. The system can automatically collect corresponding check items from multiple different apparatuses simultaneously, enabling comparative analysis without requiring the engineer to manually visit each device. This multi-functional capability maintains adaptability while dramatically reducing data collection time.
3Reliability
If the check item table includes all possible check items for all abnormal states, then analysis completeness improves, but information processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The check item table is segmented into different sections corresponding to different abnormal state types. Each segment contains only the check items relevant to that specific abnormal state. When an abnormal state occurs, the system presents only the corresponding segment, providing completeness for that specific case while avoiding the complexity of displaying all possible check items at once.
Data Source
AI summary
A maintenance engineer can analyze an abnormal state with less difficulty in a rapid and correct manner independent of his/her skill. A substrate processing system comprises: a substrate processing apparatus configured to operate according to a recipe defining a process sequence and process conditions, and a group managing apparatus connected to the substrate processing apparatus. The group managing apparatus comprises an analysis support unit. The analysis support unit is configured to extract check item information relating to both abnormal state information for indentifying an abnormal state occurring when the recipe is executed and apparatus type information for identifying the type of the substrate processing apparatus at which the abnormal state occurs, and to prepare a check item table comprising the extracted check item information.