A method for data mining information obtained in an integrated circuit fabrication
factory ("fab") that includes steps of: (a) gathering data from the fab from one
or more of systems, tools, and databases that produce data in the fab or collect
data from the fab; (b) formatting the data and storing the formatted data in a
source database; (c) extracting portions of the data for use in data mining in
accordance with a user specified configuration file; (d) data mining the extracted
portions of data in response to a user specified analysis configuration file; (e)
storing results of data mining in a results database; and (f) providing access
to the results.