This chapter discusses scheduling and dispatching in one of the most complex manufacturing environments — wafer fabrication
facilities. These facilities represent the most costly and time-consuming portion of the semiconductor manufacturing process.
After a brief introduction to wafer fabrication operations, the results of a survey of semiconductor manufacturers that focused
on the current state of the practice and future needs are presented. Then the chapter presents a review of some recent dispatching
approaches and finally an overview of a recent deterministic scheduling approach is provided.
Key words Scheduling - dispatching - semiconductor manufacturing