Top Semiconductor Industry Supply Chain Challenges Not to Miss!

The semiconductor industry has been evidencing numerous amounts of challenges in fulfilling the dynamically varying needs due to demands from various technological advancements like Artificial intelligence, IoT, renewable, automobile industry, smart-power grids, etc. To boost their efficiencies, all these industries are relying very highly on the silicon wafer industry manufacturers.

Today semiconductor firms need to be more flexible, focusing on research and development, increased functionality, effective production process, and supply chain process. More specifically, there is an immense need for semiconductor space to innovate and streamline its supply chain process to serve the rising market to deliver better value with agility.  It is understood that the supply chain process is more of an issue of production than a mere economic aspect. With the present supply chain process, the approximate time for the product from production to handing over to the buyer is six months. The semiconductor industry must understand supply chain challenges and solve them precisely.

Semiconductor Supply Chain Management Challenges

1. Varying Government Policies

The global semiconductor ecosystem is constantly impacted by government policies and geopolitical issues, as the compliance and regulatory policies of semiconductor supply are different to each nation.  Adhering to these constantly varying policies is challenging.  Government policies also give grants, centralized planning systems, intellectual property rights larceny, and other non-market efforts. These, on the other side, have the possibility to interrupt markets and hinder innovation. While China stands out today, there are fears this “supply-chain localization” trend will spread to other nations.

2. Beyond Traditional Research and Development

The demand for new technological adoptions like Artificial Intelligence and IoT-based semiconductor devices is needed for the manufacturers to go beyond the traditional Moore’s law-based fabrication process. It is important to discover techniques to evade the constraints of Moore’s law to fabricate powerful chips at a reasonable price. Doing so can avoid the manufacturing process’s complexity and to faster delivery of products in lesser time and costs.

For the semiconductor to meet the demands, the supply chain must integrate front-end and back-end systems to facilitate improved customer service while meeting the demand.   An effective manufacturing process is critical to the semiconductor supply chain at fabrication and assembly, and packaging. It is vital to have effective and cost-effective approaches in semiconductor fabrication to testing semiconductors to avoid errors. The errors in the manufacturing process can impede the supply chain process. Similarly, errors in the integrated product assembly and packaging can also disturb the entire supply chain process

3. Collaborative Team Culture

A collaborative, interactive, and transparent approach is essential across the production and supply chain process to serve the dynamic requirements and offer greater capability, execution, and lower production costs.

4. Transparent Production and Logistics

Customer requirements vary dynamically based on the product performance needs. The semiconductor needs to provide a platform to precisely record customer requirements and make sure the end product is in line with the customer’s request. The platform should provide scope for customers to track the development process and to provide timely updates. Development updates and the platform should also enable customers to track the orders and manage logistics.

How Tier1 Silicon Solves Challenges

• Source SEMI standard wafers that are ready to sell.
• Wafers are purchased directly from the top silicon manufacturers in the world.
• Lots are certified by the manufacturers.
• Cassette and packaging integrity is maintained.
• Made-to-order part numbers direct from manufacturers based on preset customer specifications.
• We purchase surplus stock and have allocated capacity agreements.
• Volume purchasing helps reduce overall costs.
• Off-the-shelf products are available on demand.
• A web portal to track logistics.