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In wafer fabrication, the material cost of wafer is expensive. It is imperative to repair the defective wafers produced during the manufacturing process for reducing the cost and increasing the yield of wafer fabrication. However, repairing defective wafer will not only increase the work‐in‐process (WIP) level but the flow time of rework lots as well. In wafer fabrication, rework of wafer is only allowed in the photolithography area, where is the bottleneck of the entire wafer fab. The purpose of this paper is to develop a dispatching rule concerned with rework for photolithography area.

The research developed a load‐oriented integrated rule, Re‐Disp, to consider the lots' sequencing decision and rework consideration at the photolithography area, in wafer fabrication. Simulation test and statistical analysis have been done on a virtual wafer fabrication plant. In the simulation model, some combinations of dispatching and rework rules, which are popular in practice, have been modeled for benchmarking.

Integrated rules, Re‐Disp, is better than those combinations of dispatching rules and rework rules under statistical analysis. System will be more stable when the integrated dispatching rule is used for control of the wafer schedule.

The paper developed a new dispatching rule for wafer fabrication concerned with rework for photolithography.

The purpose of this paper is to review, evaluate and classify the academic research that has been published in facility layout problems (FLPs) and to analyse how researches and practices on FLPs are.

The review is based on 166 papers published from 1953 to 2021 in international peer-reviewed journals. The literature review on FLPs is presented under broader headings of discrete space and continuous space FLPs. The important formulations of FLPs under static and dynamic environments represented in the discrete and continuous space are presented. The articles reported in the literature on various representations of facilities for the continuous space Unequal Area Facility Layout Problems (UA-FLPs) are summarized. Discussed and commented on adaptive and robust approaches for dynamic environment FLPs. Highlighted the application of meta-heuristic solution methods for FLPs of a larger size.

It is found that most of the earlier research adopted the discrete space for the formulation of FLPs. This type of space representation for FLPs mostly assumes an equal area for all facilities. UA-FLPs represented in discrete space yield irregular shape facilities. It is also observed that the recent works consider the UA-FLPs in continuous space. The solution of continuous space UA-FLPs is more accurate and realistic. Some of the recent works on UA-FLPs consider the flexible bay structure (FBS) due to its advantages over the other representations. FBS helps the proper design of aisle structure in the detailed layout plan. Further, the recent articles reported in the literature consider the dynamic environment for both equal and unequal area FLPs to cope with the changing market environment. It is also found that FLPs are Non-deterministic Polynomial-complete problems, and hence, they set the challenges to researchers to develop efficient meta-heuristic methods to solve the bigger size FLPs in a reasonable time.

Due to the extremely large number of papers on FLPs, a few papers may have inadvertently been missed. The facility layout design research domain is extremely vast which covers other areas such as cellular layouts, pick and drop points and aisle structure design. This research review on FLPs did not consider the papers published on cellular layouts, pick and drop points and aisle structure design. Despite the possibility of not being all-inclusive, the authors firmly believe that most of the papers published on FLPs are covered and the general picture presented on various approaches and parameters of FLPs in this paper are precise and trustworthy.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper reviews and classifies the literature on FLPs for the first time under the broader headings of discrete space and continuous space representations. Many important formulations of FLPs under static and dynamic environments represented in the discrete and continuous space are presented. This paper also provides the observations from the literature review and identifies the prospective future directions.

Explains that a tandem automated guided vehicle (AGV) system is composed of several non‐overlapping closed loops. Stations or machines within each loop are served by a single dedicated vehicle. The transit area located between two adjacent loops serves as an interface and allows loads to be transferred from one loop to another. If a load needs to be delivered to a machine not located within the same loop, the load will need more than one vehicle to carry it to its destination. Develops a model to solve the machine partition and layout problems concurrently in tandem AGV systems. During the design process, the objective is to minimize the number of loops to reduce the setup costs of AGVs in the system. Naturally, the desirability of a prospective loop must be evaluated in terms of the number of machines it covers, the workload of each AGV, and the ratio of the flow within the loop to the total flow associated with that loop.Quality indicators Research implications** Practice implications** Originality** Readability**

The purpose of this paper is to consider the interaction among shop floor control (SFC) strategies (order review/release, dispatching, and rework strategies) and its impact on the performance of wafer fabrication. How to select a suitable set of SFC strategies in wafer fabrication is the main topic.

The paper tried to find the better combination of these strategies by specific performance indicators. A virtual wafer fab is built based on a real case in Taiwan and used for simulation test. Seven ORR rules, eight dispatching rules, and three rework rules are considered in the simulation test.

The paper finds that the performance of most ORR strategies will be improved when combined with suitable dispatching and rework strategies. But no single strategy can satisfy all performance indicators.

The performance of most ORR strategies will be improved when combined with suitable dispatching and rework strategies. No single strategy can satisfy all performance indicators. In practice, we should choose SFC strategies carefully based on the system conditions. Furthermore, ORR, dispatching, and rework strategies cannot be separately considered. Instead, they should be combined and integrated for improving the system performance.

Simulation tests and statistical analysis are done for three kinds of SFC strategies on a virtual wafer fab. The suitable combinations of SFC strategies for different performance indicators are suggested in this paper. The selection of ORR, dispatching and rework rules in wafer fabrication are discussed in the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of rework operations on the shopfloor control’s strategies, including order release and dispatching. An attempt is made to determine the performance of various production control strategies on the system performance indicators under different levels of rework rate. Also the interaction of order release and dispatching strategies under different rework operations is investigated. Some representative shopfloor control (SFC) strategies are considered in our simulation model. It was found that the effect of rework operation on the system performance is significant. The order release and dispatching strategies’ performance is affected by the rework operation. The performance is improved dramatically if a suitable combination of order release and dispatching strategies is adopted. Under different rework rates and performance indicators a suitable combination of SFC strategies is suggested in this paper.

This paper presents a new approach for combining the quantitative and qualitative objectives to resolve the facility layout problem. In previous studies, there are various approaches to generate solutions for the facility layout problem. Suboptimal solutions need to be considered for large layout problems since optimal algorithms are computationally infeasible. Therefore, it is important to set criteria to measure the quality of various solutions. In this paper, a new measure of solution quality, the probability of superiority, is offered for the determination of the probability that one layout is better than the others. An example is presented to illustrate our proposed approach.

The purpose of this paper is to identify what kind of supply chain integration strategies can support TFT‐LCD manufacturers seeking to break through the cost constraints and complex co‐operation relationships between manufacturers, suppliers and set plants/distributors, and further satisfy the market requirements in terms of cost, quality, delivery, and flexibility.

The paper encompasses in‐depth interviews with 20 TFT‐LCD industry executives in three of the largest Taiwan TFT‐LCD manufacturing firms.

Several different supply chain integration strategies have been identified for operational‐level improvement of TFT‐LCD manufacturing, including direct or indirect investment in suppliers; “made in‐house” and “made by resident suppliers” arrangements, “quasi‐cluster” formation, and new module assembly line set‐up at set plant.

This study involves only three multinational corporations of Taiwanese origin.

Based on the analysis of the TFT‐LCD supply chain structure, the strategic fit of supply chain integration leads to the improvement of TFT‐LCD manufacturers' capability to satisfy customer requirements and then attain competitive advantage. Their experience provides guidance for other hi‐tech industries.

The paper provides insights into the strategic formulation of supply chain integration in the real world of the TFT‐LCD industry and identifies directions for further empirical research.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the interaction between dynamic due date assignment methods and scheduling decision rules in a typical dynamic job shop production system in which setup times are sequence dependent. Two due date assignment methods and six scheduling rules are considered for detailed investigation. The scheduling rules include two new rules which are modifications of the existing rules. The performance of the job shop system is evaluated using various measures related to flow time and tardiness.

A discrete-event simulation model is developed to describe the operation of the job shop. The simulation results are subjected to statistical analysis based on the method of analysis of variance. Regression-based analytical models have been developed using the simulation results. Since the due date assignment methods and the scheduling rules are qualitative in nature, they are modeled using dummy variables. The validation of the regression models involves comparing the predictions of the performance measures of the system with the results obtained through simulation.

The proposed scheduling rules provide better performance for the mean tardiness measure under both the due date assignment methods. The regression models yield a good prediction of the performance of the job shop.

Other methods of due date assignment can also be considered. There is a need for further research to investigate the performance of due date assignment methods and scheduling rules for the experimental conditions that involve system disruptions, namely, breakdowns of machines.

The explicit consideration of sequence-dependent setup time (SDST) certainly enhances the performance of the system. With appropriate combination of due date assignment methods and scheduling rules, better performance of the system can be obtained under different shop floor conditions characterized by setup time and arrival rate of jobs. With reductions in mean flow time and mean tardiness, customers are benefitted in terms of timely delivery promises, thus leading to improved service level of the firm. Reductions in manufacturing lead time can generate numerous other benefits, including lower inventory levels, improved quality, lower costs, and lesser forecasting error.

Two modified scheduling rules for scheduling a dynamic job shop with SDST are proposed. The analysis of the dynamic due date assignment methods in a dynamic job shop with SDST is a significant contribution of the present study. The development of regression-based analytical models for a dynamic job shop operating in an SDST environment is a novelty of the present study.

This paper aims to develop a method based on artificial intelligence capable of predicting the due date (DD) of job shops in real-time, aiming to assist in the decision-making process of industries.

This paper chooses to use the methodological approach Design Science Research (DSR). The DSR aims to build solutions based on technology to solve relevant issues, where its research results from precise methods in the evaluation and construction of the model. The steps of the DSR are identification of the problem and motivation, definition of the solution’s objectives, design and development, demonstration, evaluation of the solution and the communication of results.

Along with this work, it is possible to verify that the proposed method allows greater accuracy in the DD definition forecasts when compared to conventional calculations.

Some limitations of this study can be pointed. It is possible to mention questions related to the tasks to be informed by users, as they could lead to problems in the performance of the artifact as the input data may not be correctly posted due to the misunderstanding of the question by part of the users.

The proposed artifact is a method capable of contributing to the development of the manufacturing industry to improve the forecast of manufacturing dates, assisting in making decisions related to production planning. The use of real production data contributed to creating, demonstrating and evaluating the artifact. This approach was important for developing the method allowing more reliability.

This paper seeks to apply a heuristic approach to solve the facility layout problem and the description of a new computer‐aided layout design system.

The system utilizes a new approach for computing the adjacency scores, stacking of departments, and reserving or changing the department's shapes and dimensions. The system algorithms are based on calculating the minimal distance between departments and modified departmental closeness rating.

The research addressed in this paper has resulted in developing FLASP (Facility LAyout Support Program) software. FLASP could reduce the number of iterations needed to reach the optimal solution of the layout problems by restricting the location for each department depending on the relationships between them.

The system is built on a set of algorithms that are concerned with stacking, calculating the shortest rectilinear distances between departments, adjacency matrix system, modifications capabilities, and plans main aisles surrounding each department.

The program gathers the importance of both the adjacency relationships and the distances between departments in a way that depends on the concept that the adjacency score should not be nullified just because the two departments are no longer strictly adjacent. It rather considers that the adjacency score fades away gradually with the increase of distance between the two departments which leads to a main difference in distance consideration.