President / CEO and Founder TECHCET San Diego, CA, United States
The semiconductor (semi) supply chain has encountered significant hurdles in recent years, from the chip shortage during the pandemic to the artificial intelligence (AI) surge, dramatically altering demand dynamics in the upstream supply chain. The future demand for semiconductors in AI applications could increase volatility due to unpredictable AI adoption patterns and diverse application requirements. The complexity of manufacturing semiconductors and their production cycle has also led to a significant cost increase. One of the critical challenges is the widely recognized capacity bottlenecks of advanced semiconductor AI chips and fab clusters’ regional diversity. Moreover, many specific process materials crucial for production, such as silicon wafers, specialty and rare gases, metals, and wet chemicals, have faced shortages. Finally, tensions between major semiconductor manufacturing countries have resulted in trade restrictions and sanctions, disrupting the global supply chain, including raw metals and minerals, increasing the risk of interruption, and revealing a heavy reliance on misaligned countries.
This talk introduces a novel approach needed to increase the fidelity and speed of supply chain coordination while reducing cost and increasing efficiency. A secure data collaboration platform with advanced analytics will be shown that incorporates deep market intelligence for the semiconductor ecosystem. This ecosystem-level digital twin is a standout feature that can simulate critical materials supply planning during demand changes and supply disruption. This approach, crafted from a systematic supply chain tier connectivity, offers end-to-end step-change transparency and traceability for value partners in the ecosystem. One use case will demonstrate how ontology capability enables a delicate balance between centralized and distributed material supplier sites, optimizing the return on investment and supporting the regionalized supply chain resilience initiative to empower device manufacturers to anticipate upcoming megatrend inflections. A second use case zeroes in on the operational-level fab demand challenge where real-time critical material supply and demand are managed through multiple suppliers and leverage risk mitigation through a global shipping network.
The semiconductor industry is at a critical juncture, grappling with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Strategic planning, investment, and collaboration across the global ecosystem are pivotal to navigating risk reduction and resilience. Adopting an end-to-end supply chain digital twin could revolutionize the semi-industry. This solution has the potential to bolster supply chain resilience, optimize resource allocation, and mitigate the impact of supply disruptions, empowering the vertical semiconductor value chain to anticipate and adapt to upcoming megatrend inflections.
