A framework for supply chain management in semiconductor manufacturing industry

In this paper, we define the planning problem in semiconductor manufacturing to be that of managing the entire supply chain and discuss the benefits of this global approach as well as the problems associated with implementing it. Finally, we discuss the requirements for a tool that would enable us to manage the entire supply chain. Our approach allows us to model the supply chain as an integrated network and gives us the ability to identify and therefore better manage the constraints in the system, and to understand and model the response and constraint buffers. The benefits of such an approach are the ability to reflect the global (company wide) impact of local decisions, advance warning of potential problems, and the speed of planning and execution.