A MANUFACTURING CONTROL METHOD FOR IC PLANT BATCH SEQUENTIAL MACHINE

A method of operating a batch sequential machine in a manufacturing plant to optimize processing of lots of work through a plurality of series of processing stations which perform various functions comprising the following steps. Collect interval-times (I.sub.i,j) for processing of lots through individual processing stations. Form a matrix of reduced times for processing lots through the processing stations. Determine permutations of the reduced times for a series of combinations of the processing stations for performing required processing tasks. Select the combination of interval-times providing the maximum reduction of total processing time.