Building a Better Supply Chain: Successful Collaboration in the Fabless Semiconductor Industry

“Building a Better Supply Chain” is a study on how outsourcing and contracting has affected process management in the semiconductor supply chain. 

A collaborative effort between industry analyst firm Industry Directions, Inc. and GSA, the study demonstrates that while fabless companies are adept at operating in the outsourced model and recognize the importance of the supply chain and how it helps drive competitive advantage, there is significant opportunity for improvement.

The study underscores how increasingly complex fabless designs and growing challenges regarding design hand-offs to foundries, coupled with the difficulty of logistics and the need to manage costs, all impact supply chain effectiveness.  These changing market forces are having a significant impact on partner relationships and how they are executed.

Some key findings include:

• Cost reduction continues to be the most significant driver behind outsourcing operations; however, specialization and core competency objectives are likely to become dominant in the next two years.

• Manufacturing remains the primary outsourced operation by fabless companies, but is not expected to increase in the next two years. Inventory management is the fastest growing area for outsourcing.
  
  
• Trading partners are becoming more interdependent, with business volume and geographic location being the fastest growing factors for determining a strategic relationship.
  
  
• A majority of respondents agree that the product design effort – both product lifecycle management (PLM) and new product introductions (NPIs) – is viewed as part of the supply chain operation.

Download the Study

The study is available complimentary to the industry. Download study (PDF 710 KB)

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Comments or Questions?

Please contact Chelsea Boone at 972.866.7579 x123.