Predictive maintenance for third party support equipment

• US 8,560,106 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2011
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Swyers, John R., Yedatore, Manjunath, Davis, Tony L., Turner, Donn, Johnson, Michael W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Padmanabhan, Kavita
• Assistant Examiner(s): Everett, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US13/306,646
• Publication Number:
  US 20120191225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/106
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

A server receives equipment data from third party support equipment during operation of the third party support equipment in a manufacturing environment. The server receives the equipment data via a first port on the third party support equipment. The third party support equipment communicates with a process tool via a second port on third party support equipment. The server determines a future state of the third party support equipment based on the equipment data and notifies a user of the future state of the third party support equipment.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a server comprising a support equipment performance subsystem and a processing device, equipment data from a plurality of different types of third party support equipment during operation of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment in a manufacturing environment,

wherein the equipment data is received via a first port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment and the plurality of different types of third party support equipment communicates with a respective process tool via a second port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment;

receiving, by the server, configuration data comprising a format for receiving the equipment data from the plurality of different types of third party support equipment with the format of each third party support equipment being associated with a respective third party manufacturer;

determining, by the server, a future state of each of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment that are manufactured by different third parties based on the equipment data;

wherein the server is removable from the manufacturing environment without affecting performance of the manufacturing environment and failure of a third party support equipment affects performance of the respective process tool in the manufacturing environment,

wherein a process tool manufactures devices and a respective third party support equipment supports the process tool.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein one of the third party support equipment is manufactured by a first entity and the support equipment performance subsystem is maintained by a second entity, wherein the first entity and the second entity are different.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the server of the support equipment performance subsystem automatically collects data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the support equipment performance subsystem, configuration data comprising a time period for receiving the equipment data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the future state of at least one of the third party support equipment predicts a failure of the third party support equipment.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the future state of at least one of the third party support equipment comprises at least one of normal performance, part showing signs of wear, part near failure, and part failure.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing, in real-time, the equipment data to threshold data to determine whether at least one of the third party support equipment is above a performance threshold, wherein the performance threshold indicates a failure of the respective third party support equipment.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first port is independent and separate from the second port.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium embodied with executable code that cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving equipment data from a plurality of different types of third party support equipment during operation of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment in a manufacturing environment,

wherein the equipment data is received via a first port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment and the plurality of different types of third party support equipment communicates with a respective process tool via a second port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment;

receiving configuration data comprising a format for receiving the equipment data from the plurality of different types of third party support equipment with the format of each third party support equipment being associated with a respective third party manufacturer;

determining a future state of each of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment that are manufactured by different third parties based on the equipment data;

wherein the server is removable from the manufacturing environment without affecting performance of the manufacturing environment and failure of a third party support equipment affects performance of the respective process tool in the manufacturing environment,

wherein a process tool manufactures devices and a respective third party support equipment supports the process tool.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, wherein the support equipment performance subsystem is removable from the manufacturing environment without affecting performance of the manufacturing environment.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving configuration data comprising a time period for receiving the equipment data.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, wherein the future state of at least one of the third party support equipment predicts a failure of the third party support equipment.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, wherein the future state of at least one of the third party support equipment comprises at least one of normal performance, part showing signs of wear, part near failure, and part failure.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, further comprising:

comparing, in real-time, the equipment data to threshold data to determine whether at least one of the third party support equipment is above a performance threshold, wherein the performance threshold indicates a failure of the third party support equipment.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 9, further comprising:

automatically collecting data and determining a state of a plurality of third party support equipment that are manufactured by different third parties, wherein the first port is independent and separate from the second port.

16. A computerized system comprising

a processor coupled to a memory through a bus;

and

instructions executed from the memory by the processor to cause the processor

to receive equipment data from a plurality of different types of third party support equipment during operation of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment in a manufacturing environment,

wherein the equipment data is received via a first port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment and the plurality of different types of third party support equipment communicates with a respective process tool via a second port on the plurality of different types of third party support equipment;

receive configuration data comprising a format for receiving the equipment data from the plurality of different types of third party support equipment with the format of each third party support equipment being associated with a respective third party manufacturer;

determine a future state of each of the plurality of different types of third party support equipment that are manufactured by different third parties based on the equipment data;

wherein the server is removable from the manufacturing environment without affecting performance of the manufacturing environment and failure of a third party support equipment affects performance of the respective process tool in the manufacturing environment,

wherein a process tool manufactures devices and a respective third party support equipment supports the process tool.

17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

receive configuration data comprising a time period for receiving the equipment data.

18. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the future state of at least one of the third party support equipment predicts a failure of the third party support equipment.

19. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

compare, in real-time, the equipment data to threshold data to determine whether at least one of the third party support equipment is above a performance threshold, wherein the performance threshold indicates a failure of the third party support equipment.

20. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

automatically collect data and to determine a state of a plurality of different types of third party support equipment, wherein the first port is independent and separate from the second port.