Ramp-up performance measurement in job–shop systems using real-time location data: a case study in semiconductor manufacturing

Production ramp-up is traditionally characterized by instability, unpredictability, and complexity. Industry 4.0 is changing the future of ramp-up management by facilitating the quantification of early-stage ramp-up performance and enabling manufacturers to accelerate their ramp-up. This work contributes to ramp-up manufacturing by (i) introducing a performance measurement framework specifically designed for job–shop environments and (ii) developing and implementing a low-cost, scalable real-time location system (RTLS) architecture that tracks the real-time positions of products on the shop floor. The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated through a real-world deployment at a photonic semiconductor foundry undergoing ramp-up. Results indicate that the framework can quantitatively assess the progress of production toward regular operations. Moreover, the RTLS captures valuable information—such as actual production pathways and traceability—that conventional Work-In-Progress (WIP) tracking systems are unable to provide.