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In Fab Floor, the fastest recovery is usually to stop releasing lots blindly, identify the active constraint, and feed that constraint at a controlled rate. A large queue does not mean high output: if a downstream tool cannot clear work, extra wafer starts only increase work-in-process (WIP), queue age, cycle time and process risk.
Use the tool state to determine the cause. A starved tool is waiting for upstream work, while a blocked tool cannot pass work downstream. Then protect the constraint with a small buffer, move engineering focus to its tool group, answer alarms with preventive maintenance, and change one control at a time while checking output, WIP, queue age, tool health and yield.
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What a bottleneck means in Fab Floor
A bottleneck is the process step whose effective capacity limits the whole line. Fab Floor models wafer lots moving through stages such as lithography, etch and metrology. The slowest or least available stage does not have to be the tool with the longest visible queue; interruptions, maintenance, dispatching and starvation can make another tool the practical constraint.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The central rule is simple: the active bottleneck sets practical output. Starting more lots somewhere else cannot increase shipments if the constrained step still processes work at the same rate. The game’s bottleneck guidance summarizes this as “The bottleneck sets output” and “Pushing more work in doesn’t ship more.”
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Low yield is therefore often a flow problem as well as a process problem. When WIP piles up, lots wait longer, cycle time rises and the simulation exposes them to more process and scheduling risk. A line that looks busy can consequently produce fewer good dies than a deliberately paced line.
Read the line before changing it
Before buying capacity, releasing another lot or moving a setting, record the current state. Fab Floor’s stated objectives combine good-die output, yield, controlled WIP, healthy tools, cash and reputation, so a fix that raises one number while damaging the others may not be a real improvement.
| What to watch | What it tells you | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Good-die output | The quantity that survives the process and can contribute to shipments. | Starts rise but good-die output does not. |
| WIP | How much work is inside the fab and competing for processing. | WIP keeps growing after a release increase. |
| Queue age and cycle time | How long lots wait and complete the route. | Older queues accompany falling yield. |
| Tool utilization | Whether a tool is occupied, idle or unable to make useful progress. | High apparent utilization with little completed output. |
| Tool health and alarms | Whether nominal capacity is available in practice. | An alarm stops a tool and backs up every lot behind it. |
| Yield | The share of processed material becoming good dies. | Yield drops after WIP or starts are increased. |
| Cash and reputation | Whether the operating change is sustainable in the simulation. | A throughput push consumes resources without improving deliverable output. |
Take a snapshot before the intervention and another after the line has had time to respond. Without that comparison, it is easy to mistake a moved queue for a solved bottleneck.
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- Stop feeding the line blindly. Pause or reduce lot releases when downstream queues are growing faster than they can be cleared. The Fab Floor guidance explicitly warns that more starts are not useful when the downstream line cannot clear them. Keep enough work moving to avoid starving healthy capacity, but do not treat starts as a substitute for constrained capacity.
- Find the active constraint. Inspect each major tool group and compare its actual behavior, not just its nameplate speed. Look for the stage where lots wait, where completed work fails to leave, or where interruptions reduce effective capacity. A visible pile is a clue, not proof of the root cause.
- Classify the tool as starved or blocked. If it is waiting for incoming lots, investigate upstream release, supply and dispatch. If it has finished work but cannot hand it off, investigate downstream capacity, routing and the outlet. This distinction prevents you from adding capacity on the wrong side of the line.
- Keep a small buffer at the constraint. Release work at approximately the bottleneck’s processing pace so the constrained tool has something ready when a lot finishes. The goal is a small protective buffer, not a floor-wide pile of WIP. If the buffer grows continuously, the release rate is still too high or another downstream problem is preventing flow.
- Move engineering focus. Fab Floor describes engineering focus as improving local processing capacity and slightly reducing wear. Put that focus on the currently active bottleneck or its tool group rather than leaving it fixed on one area for an entire shift. Reassess after the constraint moves.
- Answer alarms immediately. When a tool alarms, take the maintenance kit to that affected tool and start preventive maintenance. A stopped tool blocks lots behind it, so postponing the response can turn a localized interruption into a line-wide queue and yield problem.
- Recheck the complete scorecard. After each change, compare good-die output, WIP, queue age, cycle time, yield, tool health and cash. Keep the change only if it improves the constrained flow without creating a larger downstream problem.
How to tell whether a tool is starved or blocked
A starved tool points upstream
A starved tool is ready to work but has no lot available. The cause is upstream of that tool: releases may be too slow, material may not have arrived, or dispatching may be sending work elsewhere. Adding another machine at the starved stage does not solve the shortage of incoming work.
- Check whether lots are being released deliberately and reaching the tool’s route.
- Inspect the preceding process for a queue that is too small or for a stopped tool.
- Review dispatch choices if lots exist elsewhere but are not being sent to this operation.
- Do not interpret idle time caused by starvation as evidence that the tool itself needs an upgrade.
A blocked tool points downstream
A blocked tool has completed or nearly completed work but cannot transfer it. Its outlet is full, the next operation lacks capacity, or a downstream interruption is preventing handoff. Feeding additional lots upstream only increases the number waiting behind the blocked point.
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- Inspect the next tool group and its queue.
- Check for an alarm, maintenance stop or capacity shortage downstream.
- Reduce releases feeding the blocked route until the outlet clears.
- Restore downstream flow before judging the blocked tool’s speed.
The practical rule is: a starved machine points upstream and a blocked one points downstream. Use that direction to decide where to investigate before spending cash or moving engineering focus.
Control WIP and release rate
WIP is useful only when it supports continuous work at the constraint. Too little WIP leaves the bottleneck idle; too much WIP creates queues that lengthen cycle time. The intended operating point is a controlled release rate with a small buffer immediately before the active constraint.
When starts are too high
If releases rise while the bottleneck’s effective capacity stays unchanged, WIP accumulates. Queue age increases, lots spend longer in the process and yield can fall. The line may show high utilization and many active lots while good-die output remains flat. Reduce starts until the queue stops expanding, then make changes to the constraint rather than adding more upstream work.
When starts are too low
If the constrained tool repeatedly waits for work, the line is being underfed. Increase releases gradually, watching whether the buffer remains small and whether the tool begins completing work consistently. A sudden large release can overshoot the useful buffer and recreate the original queue problem.
A practical pacing loop
- Release a controlled batch rather than a continuous flood.
- Watch the buffer before the suspected bottleneck.
- Increase the next release only when the tool is about to run out of work and downstream space remains available.
- Stop increasing releases when queue age or WIP begins accelerating without a corresponding rise in good-die output.
This approach follows the simulation’s bottleneck principle: release work at the pace the constraint can consume it, with enough protection to cover normal interruptions.
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Protect the bottleneck without burying the floor
A small buffer absorbs ordinary variation and prevents the constraint from becoming starved. Its size should be judged by behavior: the bottleneck should usually have a lot ready, but the queue should not grow indefinitely. In Fab Floor, a buffer is a flow-control tool, not a target inventory number.
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When an interruption occurs, prioritize restoring the constraint and preserving its input. If the constraint is downstream, throttle upstream releases so the recovery does not turn into a large blocked queue. If the constraint is upstream, make sure later tools have room to accept its output; otherwise the upstream tool will become blocked as soon as it recovers.
Use engineering focus where it matters now
Engineering focus is an active intervention, not a background bonus that should remain on one tool group automatically. Fab Floor describes it as increasing local processing capacity and slightly reducing wear. That makes it most valuable on the tool group currently limiting flow or suffering repeated interruptions.
When to move focus
- Move focus when another tool group becomes the effective constraint after a capacity or maintenance change.
- Move focus from a healthy, non-limiting group if the current bottleneck is accumulating queue age.
- Revisit focus after an alarm recovery, because restored capacity can shift the constraint downstream.
What focus cannot do
Focus cannot make unlimited releases productive. If the outlet is blocked or the tool is starved, a local capacity improvement may simply move the queue to the next operation. Judge it by the complete scorecard, not by a single utilization reading.
Handle alarms and preventive maintenance promptly
An alarmed tool is unavailable capacity. Lots behind it cannot pass, and the resulting queue can spread backward through the line. When an alarm appears, take the maintenance kit to the affected tool and start preventive maintenance rather than waiting for the queue to become severe.
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After maintenance starts, watch both sides of the tool. Upstream WIP may continue to accumulate until the tool resumes, while downstream tools may become starved. Once the tool is healthy, restore flow in a controlled way instead of releasing every waiting lot at once. This avoids replacing a temporary stop with a downstream blockage.
Why yield can fall after you increase wafer starts
Increasing wafer starts changes the amount of material in the system, not the capacity of the bottleneck. If the constrained stage cannot clear the added work, lots spend longer waiting. In the game’s model, longer waits increase cycle time and expose lots to more process and scheduling risk, so yield may decline even though the fab appears busier.
Use this diagnostic sequence when yield falls after a release increase:
- Compare good-die output with the previous release level. If output is flat, the extra starts are not reaching shipments.
- Check WIP and queue age. Rising values indicate that the line is absorbing work faster than it can finish it.
- Locate the queue and classify the adjacent tool as starved or blocked.
- Reduce starts to the rate the active constraint can clear.
- Apply focus, maintenance or a capacity change at the actual constraint.
- Recheck yield only after queues begin to normalize.
Do not assume that a full-looking line is healthy. Controlled WIP is one of the game’s stated objectives because flow quality and good-die output matter more than activity alone.
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Choose the right fix instead of moving the bottleneck
When several interventions are possible, compare them against the same five questions: does the change affect the current constraint, what happens to WIP and queue age, does it improve tool health or alarm recovery, does it protect good-die yield, and does it merely shift the bottleneck downstream?
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| Candidate action | Best use | Primary risk | How to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce or pace lot releases | WIP and queue age are rising while good-die output is flat. | A tool becomes starved if releases are cut too far. | Queue growth stops and the constraint still receives work. |
| Increase releases gradually | The active constraint is repeatedly waiting for input. | A small buffer turns into excess WIP. | Utilization and good-die output rise without accelerating queue age. |
| Move engineering focus | A known tool group is limiting effective capacity or wearing quickly. | The queue moves to another stage. | Local capacity improves and the new constraint is identified. |
| Start preventive maintenance | An alarmed or stopped tool is blocking lots. | Upstream WIP may build during the repair. | Tool health returns and recovery releases are paced. |
| Protect the bottleneck with a small buffer | The constraint is frequently starved between lots. | Too much buffer raises queue age and yield risk. | The tool stays supplied while total WIP remains controlled. |
A capacity improvement is successful only when useful output improves. If the next process immediately becomes blocked, the intervention moved the constraint rather than increasing line-wide throughput.
Common failure patterns and recovery
“The fab is busy, so I should start more lots.”
Busy tools and growing WIP can coexist with flat shipments. Stop increasing starts, identify the constraint and pace releases to its effective capacity.
“The biggest queue must be the root cause.”
The largest pile shows where flow is breaking, but it does not reveal direction. Inspect the adjacent tool: starved points upstream; blocked points downstream.
“Utilization is high, so the tool is healthy.”
A tool can appear busy while spending time in interruptions, waiting for an outlet or processing work that cannot progress through the rest of the line. Include completed output, alarms, queue age and yield in the decision.
“I will leave engineering focus in one place for the whole shift.”
Focus is most useful at the active bottleneck. Move it when the constraint changes, then verify that the improvement reaches good-die output rather than creating a downstream queue.
“I can fix a stopped tool later.”
Delayed maintenance allows blocked lots and queue age to spread. Take the maintenance kit to the alarmed tool promptly, then restart flow in controlled batches after recovery.
A repeatable operating routine
At the start of a run or shift, release a measured amount of work and identify the tool group that limits effective flow. Maintain a small input buffer there, keep upstream releases from outrunning the outlet, and put engineering focus on that group. Respond to alarms immediately with preventive maintenance.
After every intervention, wait for the line to show a new steady pattern, then compare the same metrics: good-die output, WIP, queue age, cycle time, tool utilization, tool health, yield, cash and reputation. If one change improves the constraint but another operation becomes blocked, follow the new evidence and move the diagnosis downstream. The objective is not maximum starts or maximum visible activity; it is sustained good-die output with controlled WIP and healthy tools.
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