Patent Application
20060041334
The present disclosure relates generally to material management, and more particularly, to systems and methods of managing toxic chemical substrates in factories.
Specific toxic chemical substrates may be used for fabricating products. For example, toxic gases which pollute the environment or damage humans may be used in semiconductor manufacturing. The management and monitoring of toxic chemical substrates is an important issue for product manufacturing and environmental protection.
In semiconductor manufacturing, for example, a foundry may have several factory areas. Toxic chemical substrates may be dispersed in production lines, chemical rooms, or gas cabinets of respective factory areas, and used independently. Conventionally, toxic chemical substrates are managed manually. After receiving demand orders from a foundry, a supplier delivers toxic chemical substrates to a joint gas warehouse. Respective factory areas can acquire required toxic chemical substrates from the joint gas warehouse according to the required use thereof, and stock then in respective gas cabinets for further use. Conventionally, stocking and management of the toxic chemical substrates are performed manually, and with use thereof recorded and reported by related personnel of respective factory areas. Since no computerized management mechanism is provided, recording personnel and reporting of the use may be inconsistent, such that the amount of respective toxic chemical substrates is difficult to calculate, possibly causing failure of toxic chemical substrate management.
As described, since conventional management is performed manually, a steel cylinder storing respective toxic chemical substrates may be dispersed in respective factory areas, equipment, and gas cabinets, making effective and correct management of respective toxic chemical substrates impracticable. Further, the demand of foundries is determined based on reported use of the toxic chemical substrates, if management thereof is incorrect, production costs whereby may increase, along with risk and damage to the environment and personnel.
Toxic chemical substrate management systems and methods are provided. In an exemplary embodiment of a toxic chemical substrate management system for use in a factory having a material management system, the toxic chemical substrate management system comprises a server, a processing unit and a database. The server is coupled to the material management system to receive toxic chemical substrate information, comprising identification to be stored in the database. The server receives an instruction, and the processing unit manages operations of the toxic chemical substrate according to the identification and the instruction. The operations include request, use, storage and return of the toxic chemical substrate. The database couples to the server and processing unit for storing the toxic chemical substrate information.
The server further receives the use of the toxic chemical substrate. Such use is monitored by a monitor system coupled to the storage region of the toxic chemical substrate. The processing further registers the use.
The toxic chemical substrate management system provides a register interface for registering the operating condition of the toxic chemical substrate and the toxic chemical substrate information. The toxic chemical substrate management system further provides interfaces to query the stock, use volume, operating amount, type of toxic chemical substrate, and suppliers and operating region thereof.
The toxic chemical substrate management system further includes a toxic chemical substrate emergency system for recording dealing information, such as counter measures corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate. When an emergency occurs, the processing unit retrieves and displays the dealing information to assist dealing with the emergency.
The identification of the toxic chemical substrate is made according to the container corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate.
In an exemplary embodiment of a toxic chemical substrate management method, for use in a factory having a material management system, a toxic chemical substrate management system comprising a server, a processing unit and a database is provided. The server is coupled to the material management system. The material management system recognizes whether a substrate is a toxic chemical substrate. If so, the material management system generates toxic chemical substrate information corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate. The toxic chemical substrate information comprises identification. The server stores the toxic chemical substrate information in the database. The processing unit manages operations of the toxic chemical substrate according to the toxic chemical substrate information thereof.
The use of the toxic chemical substrate is further monitored via a monitor system coupled to the storage region of the toxic chemical substrate. The use is further reported and registered in the toxic chemical substrate management system. If the use is not reported from the monitor system, related personnel are notified by email messages or messenger calls for subsequent processing.
A toxic chemical substrate emergency system is further provided for providing dealing information, such as counter measures corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate. When an emergency occurs, the dealing information is displayed to assist dealing with the emergency.
At least one registration interface is further provided for registering the operating condition of the toxic chemical substrate and the toxic chemical substrate information. At least one query interface is further provided for querying the stock, use volume, operating amount, type of toxic chemical substrate, and suppliers and operating region thereof.
Toxic chemical substrate management methods may take the form of program code embodied in a tangible media. When the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the disclosed method.
Toxic chemical substrate management systems and methods will become more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The material management system 110 manages normal materials of the factory. The material management system 110 generates identification of respective materials, and manages respective materials accordingly. In some embodiments of the present invention, the material management system 110 can be designed to recognize toxic chemical substrates to be monitored, and generate another identification corresponding to respective toxic chemical substrates or the container thereof. The identification is affixed on a container storing the toxic chemical substrates. The encoding manner of the identification can be determined according to the type and material number of respective toxic chemical substrates, the date entering the factory, and a serial number. For example, the material management system 110 can generate a tag recording a bar code for respective normal materials. If the material is a toxic chemical substrate, the material management system 110 further generates another identification corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate on the tag. Further, the material management system 110 automatically transmits the information of the toxic chemical substrate to the toxic chemical substrate management system 120. The information comprises the identification, volume, and supplier of the toxic chemical substrate. In some embodiments of the present invention, for accurately managing toxic chemical substrates, a toxic chemical substrate stored in different containers may have different identification.
The toxic chemical substrate management system 120 is a computerized system, and manages operations of respective toxic chemical substrates according to the identification thereof. The operations include request, use, storage and return of respective toxic chemical substrates. The toxic chemical substrate management system 120 provides online access to the system via networks. The toxic chemical substrate management system 120 comprises a server (not shown), a processing unit (not shown) and a database 130. The server is coupled to the components of the factory management system 100, such as the material management system 110 via networks to receive related information, such as the toxic chemical substrate information, and stores the information in the database 130. Additionally, the server receives instructions for managing respective toxic chemical substrates via networks. The processing unit can manage the operations of respective toxic chemical substrates according to the identification and the instructions.
The toxic chemical substrate management system 120 provides a registration interface 122. The monitor system 140 or related personnel can register the toxic chemical substrate information and the operating condition of respective toxic chemical substrates to the toxic chemical substrate management system 120, and store it in the database 130 via the registration interface 122. The toxic chemical substrate management system 120 further provides at least one query interface 121 for querying the stock, use volume, operating amount, type of respective toxic chemical substrates, and suppliers and operating region thereof. The query for the stock of a toxic chemical substrate traces the use of the toxic chemical substrate, such as operating condition and storage region of the toxic chemical substrate, and its associated factory area and/or department. The query for the use volume of a toxic chemical substrate traces the use volume of the toxic chemical substrate for respective factory areas and/or departments. The query for the operating amount of a toxic chemical substrate traces the use volume of the toxic chemical substrate for respective factory areas and/or departments in a unit, such as day, month or season. The query for the type of a toxic chemical substrate queries the type of the toxic chemical substrate used in respective factory areas and/or departments. The query for the supplier of a toxic chemical substrate is to query the name, contact person, phone number and operating license of the supplier providing the toxic chemical substrate. The query for the operating region of a toxic chemical substrate queries the location information of factory areas, equipment, and gas cabinets operating the toxic chemical substrate.
The database 130 records the operating condition of respective toxic chemical substrates and toxic chemical substrates information based on the instructions from the toxic chemical substrate management system 120, and provides related information for query.
The monitor system 140 couples to the storage region of respective toxic chemical substrates in respective factory areas. The monitor system 140 monitors the use of respective toxic chemical substrate, such as the pressure, use volume, and average use rate, and reports and registers it to the toxic chemical substrate management system 120. If the use is not reported from the monitor system 140 for a predetermined period, the notification unit 150 notifies related personnel by email messages or messenger calls for subsequent processing. It is understood that the notification may comprise the type, department, and storage region of the toxic chemical substrate not reported for speeding the securing the subsequent processes. Additionally, the toxic chemical substrate emergency system 160 is further coupled with the database 130 to provide dealing information, such as counter measures corresponding to respective toxic chemical substrates. When an emergency corresponding to a toxic chemical substrate occurs, the dealing information corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate is displayed to assist dealing with the emergency. In some embodiments of the present invention, since the toxic chemical substrate emergency system 160 is already existed in the factory, the toxic chemical substrate emergency system 160 and database 130 can be joined and connected. The dealing information corresponding to respective toxic chemical substrates, however, can be also established in the database 130, but is not limited thereto. The monitor system can be a general monitor system used in the factory. Additionally, the monitor system can be also included in the toxic chemical substrate management system 120. That is the toxic chemical substrate management system 120 can be used in a factory without a general monitor system.
When a chemical substrate enters the factory, in step S302, the material management system 110 determines whether the chemical substrate is a toxic chemical substrate to be monitored. If not, in step S304, the chemical substrate is a normal material and managed accordingly. If so, in step S310, the material management system 110 generates toxic chemical substrate information corresponding to the toxic chemical substrate or its container, and encodes the identification according to the type and material number of the toxic chemical substrate, and the date entering the factory, such that the toxic chemical substrate or its container has a unique identification. Then, in step S320, the material management system 110 transmits the information to the toxic chemical substrate management system 120. In step S330, the toxic chemical substrate management system 120 registers the information and manages operations of the toxic chemical substrate according to the identification thereof.
First, in step S420, the registration interface is displayed. It is understood that since the operations may include request, use, storage and return of respective toxic chemical substrates, the registration interface may comprise several sub-interfaces for different operation registrations. In steps S430 and S440, the operating condition of respective toxic chemical substrates is received, and stored in the database 130. The registration (S420˜S440) can be continuously performed until the system is suspended. It is understood that the monitor system 140 can automatically monitor and register the use of respective toxic chemical substrates, such as the pressure, use volume, and average use rate. If the monitor system 140 cannot automatically perform the registration, the registration can be performed by related personnel via the registration interface.
First, in step S520, a query interface 121 is displayed. Since various queries are provided in the system, the query interface 121 may display several query items, as shown in
It is understood that the toxic chemical substrate management system 120 can set a minimum volume for respective toxic chemical substrates or corresponding containers, and notify related personnel about the toxic chemical substrates or containers under the minimum volume for requesting return to the gas warehouse. Additionally, the returned toxic chemical substrates or containers can be listed for disposal.
Toxic chemical substrate management methods, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., executable instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as products, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine thereby becomes an apparatus for practicing the methods. The methods may also be embodied in the form of program code transmitted over some transmission medium, such as electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the disclosed methods. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to application specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those who are skilled in this technology can still make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93125109 | Aug 2004 | TW | national |
