Due to various production and market factors, flexibility is a key point in semiconductor manufacturing supply chain design. However, the increased complexity associated with this flexibility must be effectively managed to leverage the benefits that flexibility provides. The product structure is one of the main factors for enabling the desired result. Product structure representations in the supply chain design include linear, tree, and network. In this paper, the researchers explain the problem statement by a real case merger where risk and opportunities based on the choice of product structure representation in the supply chain design were relevant and no final solution initially was determined.
The focus of this paper is to illustrate research opportunities in the use of product structure representations in the complex semiconductor supply chain design. The solution to this problem lies in determining the best representation to implement within a company’s supply chain data and processes, and when (e.g. tree in front-end and network in back-end or tree under given market constraints).
Simulation stages in semiconductor manufacturing