FabTime to Collaborate with Lehigh on Cycle Time Management Research


Menlo Park, CA | November 13, 2001

FabTime Inc. today announced that it would be collaborating with Dr. Theodore Ralphs of Lehigh University to advance cycle time management software tools. Specifically, FabTime will be supporting Dr. Ralphs in his research on decomposition-based algorithms for large-scale optimization problems.

FabTime specializes in cycle time management software for semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities (wafer fabs). The software pulls data from the fab’s manufacturing execution system, analyzes it to look for cycle time cause-and-effect relationships, and presents the results in real-time to fab managers and supervisors.


“We would like to include a new generation of algorithms that perform more in-depth analyses, and alert fab management of potential cycle time problems that are building within the fab. To implement these algorithms we need to solve a variant of the generalized assignment problem. And we need to solve this problem quickly. That is where the work of Dr. Ralphs becomes important to us.” - Dr. Frank Chance, president of FabTime.

“Based on my preliminary technical discussions with FabTime,” said Dr. Ralphs, “I believe that we may be able to exploit hidden structure within the problem to significantly cut solution run-times. Working with FabTime will help me to gain access to realistic problem data, and to get my results tested in a commercial environment.”


About FabTime Inc.

FabTime Inc. is the first company to focus solely on the challenging problem of cycle time management for semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities. We believe that the cycle time problems faced by wafer fabs are uniquely difficult and that our customers will be well-served by a company that declares its focus and sticks to it. To that end, we offer cycle time management software and training, as well as a free email newsletter dedicated to discussing best practices for fab cycle time improvement. FabTime’s website is located at www.FabTime.com.


About Lehigh University

TProfessor Ralphs is an assistant professor in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Lehigh University. Since its inception in 1926, the ISE Department has focused on the analysis and design of manufacturing systems and processes, and on the efficient planning, control, and operation of production functions. The department’s website is located at https://ise.lehigh.edu.