A management method capable of making an accurate decision about a malfunction of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment includes sampling a plurality of data of at least one parameter under normal operating conditions of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment; generating a Mahalanobis space A from a group of sampled data; calculating a Mahalanobis distance from measured values of the parameter under ordinary operating conditions of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment; and deciding that a malfunction occurred in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment when the value of the Mahalanobis distance exceeds a predetermined value.