At the corporate level, the disruption to manufacturing worldwide caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami on March 11 will force a rethink of how companies manage their production in the food chain, and especially in chip manufacturing.
What if a force-9 earthquake and tsunami hit Taiwan? The 60 percent combined share Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) (NYSE: TSM) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) (NYSE: UMC) have in the foundry business would affect every IC firm. It would be akin to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical's and Hitachi Chemical's joint 90 percent control of the specialty resin market.
GlobalFoundries Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) are in no way capable of taking up the slack in the foundry market if a major disruption occurs at TSMC and UMC. Both companies are fully utilized, meaning they would need new factories, and a minimum of two years, until the start of new production (one year, in the case of Global Foundries, given its current expansion plans). The process differences, the minimum one-year delay to redesign the ICs and generate new mask sets, and other management/operational issues will further complicate the situation.
The Memory IC market is not as susceptible. Firstly, Korea has a lower overall earthquake risk, and secondly, the fallout risks are minimal. You can always get by with less DRAM or FLASH memory. Think back to the mid-1980s, when DRAM prices went vertical for three years in a row -- Microsoft just rewrote Windows to use less memory.
Of course, outsourcing can be beneficial, just as borrowing money can be, but it needs to be prudent and measured -- it's not the be-all and end-all it's made out to be. Too many firms have been seduced into believing outsourcing would make them more competitive, and they've bet their futures on it. Problems related to supply security do not go away with outsourcing; they actually get worse.
Unlike integrated device manufacturers, the top fabless companies (Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Xilinx), along with a few OEMs like Apple, understand the security risks associated with not having their own manufacturing facilities. These companies, too, may have underestimated the extent to which a fabless operation could be problematic.
it is amazing how much lessons there are to learn from the Japan desaster, not to mention how much it stands to potentially alter the way the electronics supply chain has functioned till date.
Apparently, various geographical areas presently have a concentration of specific manufacturing arms of the electronics industry, which is why the Japan disaster affected specific areas of the supply chain.
Could as this article has mentioned, the impact will be just as sevear if it had happend in Taiwan, but for differnt sectors of the supply chain.
Could this lead to as more decentralized supply chain, spread out over more geographical areas?
Outsourcing, like any other strategy, has is benefits and drawbacks. Too many times it sems as though companies allow a strategy to manage the company, rather than exerting the discipline necessary for the company to manage the strategy.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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