Issues in Managing Localized Semiconductor Supply Chains
摘要
This chapter first emphasizes that localization is one of the important factors for the sustainable development of a supply chain. The advantages of localization mentioned in the supply chain management literature are then summarized. Several related issues in semiconductor supply chain management are also raised. The first is how to choose the most suitable factory location to localize a wafer fab. For comparison purposes, the literature on facility location selection in traditional supply chains is also reviewed. Several real cases are also analyzed. The analysis results show that the country (or region) chosen to build a localized wafer fab is actually irrelevant. Instead, the most suitable city or location in the intended country (or region) must be selected to build the localized wafer fab. The second issue is how to mitigate the impact of cultural differences. To this end, a number of measures have been proposed, including seeking the assistance from local communities, the cooperation between fabs in different time zones, the natural replacement of domestic workers, hiring more local employees, designing notification or reminder forms, and a staggered shift system. The next issue discusses the planning horizon of a semiconductor supply chain localization plan, for which the concept of flexible long-term localization is proposed. The final issue is about the wafer technology node that a localized wafer fab should adopt to meet the needs of local customers, foundries and local governments.