In at least one aspect, the invention provides an electronic device
fabrication facility (Fab) that uses small lot carriers that may be
transparently integrated into an existing Fab that uses large lot
carriers. A manufacturing execution system (MES) may interact with the
inventive small lot Fab as if the small lot Fab is any other Fab
component in an existing large lot Fab without requiring knowledge of how
to control small lot Fab components (e.g., beyond specifying a processing
recipe). A small lot Fab according to the present invention may
encapsulate the small lot Fab's internal use of small lot components and
present itself to a large lot Fab's MES as if the small lot Fab is a
component that uses large lot carriers.