A comparison of two CIM systems for TFT-LCD industry : IBM Poseidon and Consilium WorkStream

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Thin Film Transistor - Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) Manufacturers, with much higher investment cost than other traditional manufacturers, have provided their customers with good services in terms of highly professional production techniques and capacity. In order to meet customers’ various requirements such as shorter manufacturing time, Just in Time Delivery, and high-quality products with lower cost etc., a much more effective system has recently been introduced to TFT-LCD Manufacturers. This system is so called Computer Integration Manufacturing (CIM). Through enterprise modeling, comparison, with object-oriented method for the CIM model, it becomes a good system for TFT-LCD Manufacturers to solve problems encountered when facing customers’ numerous demands. The manufacturing lots are scheduled and dispatched to the right cell at the right time through the coordination of the scheduler, dispatcher and monitor of FC. First of all, customer’s order is entered into Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Next, the MES is to be integrated with Material Requirement Planning (MRP), Bill of Material (BOM) and Production Definition Database (PDD) to prepare piece parts for the production. Then, customer orders are scheduled as factory orders and released into shop floor control systems. Factory Coordinator (FC) and Production Activity Control (PAC) then take over the factory orders (Jobs). Finally, PAC continues to monitor and follow FC’s schedules to complete the whole production. Through this system, TFT-LCD Manufacturers are able to deliver products to customers with their expected delivery date, quality requirement and other agreements stated on the purchase order. The major research in this paper is mainly about the impact of CIM system on the operation performance of TFT-LCD manufacturers. The paper discusses the definition of CIM, the benefits of CIM system, the process flow of TFT-LCD, the functional structures of CIM system, and the application of CIM system in TFT-LCD industry, through the case study of Company H. The analysis and comparison in this study found that the two CIM systems under study, the IBM Poseidon and Consilium WorkStream system each has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of customization degrees and flexibilities, project management, function levels and interface integration. However, for Company H, the IBM Poseidon system has some other benefits. Applying IBM Poseidon system not only gets rid of the current risks but also avoids the troubles resulting of the information technology (IT) too outdated which may be obsolete in the future from Consilium WorkStream system. At the same time it can catch up with the Ramp up progress, help to maintain the stability of the whole system, and eventually increase the productivity for Company H.