What to localise first: a supply-chain order of attack for a new fab or OSAT.
Every new line wants a nearer supply chain. The question is where to start, because localising the wrong thing first can cost yield, and yield costs more than freight.
- Localise in order of risk to the process, lowest first.
- Four rungs: indirect supply, then spares and parts services, then facilities and bulk supply, then process-critical materials.
- For process-critical materials, add a second source before you consider a switch.
- A local supplier needs three things from you: a forecast, a specification and feedback.
A line in a region new to chipmaking begins with most of its bill of supply imported. That is normal. Over time the line gains from sourcing nearer: shorter lead times, lower inventory, faster service and less exposure to a single shipping route.
The temptation is to go after the largest items of spend first. In a semiconductor line that is usually the wrong order, because the largest items are often the ones the process is most sensitive to.
The principle
Rank each category by two things: how much a change of supplier could affect the product, and how long it takes to prove that it has not. Then start at the low end of both.
The four rungs
Indirect supply
Quick lead-time gain.
Spares and parts services
Capability can be audited.
Facilities and bulk supply
Needs your volume.
Process-critical materials
Second source first.
- Indirect supply and services. Cleanroom garments and consumables, calibration, transport, warehousing. The specifications are well understood, a problem is visible quickly, and the gain in lead time is immediate.
- Spares, repair and parts cleaning. Consumable parts, refurbishment, cleaning of chamber parts. A local shop’s capability can be audited directly, and its work can be inspected before it goes into a tool.
- Facilities and bulk supply. Bulk gases, chemical blending and delivery, sub-fab maintenance. This rung needs the supplier to invest in plant and people, so it needs a volume commitment from you and a longer horizon.
- Process-critical materials. Specialty gases, photoresists, wafers, packaging substrates. Qualification is long, the material must be proven on product, and your customers may have to approve the change.
Each rung funds and teaches the next. The supplier relationships, audit routines and qualification discipline built on the first two rungs are what make the last two possible.
Second source before switch
For the top rung, the first goal is not to replace an established supplier. It is to have a qualified alternative, so that one supplier’s problem does not stop your line. Running a second source at a modest share proves the material over time and keeps the option real.
Three questions for any local supplier
Semiconductor customers ask more of a supplier than most industries do. Before you invest in qualifying one, ask:
- Can they hold the specification every time? One good sample proves little. Look for process control, not a best effort.
- Can they document it? Traceability by batch, certificates of analysis, records you can audit.
- Will they tell you before they change anything? A change in raw material, process or site, notified in advance, is manageable. The same change discovered afterwards is an excursion.
What the supplier needs from you
Localisation fails as often on the buyer’s side as on the supplier’s. A supplier willing to invest needs:
- A forecast, honest about volume and timing, so the investment can be justified.
- A specification, complete and explained, including why each limit matters.
- Feedback, with data, when a trial fails, so the next one can pass.
The first things to bring nearby are those with the least risk to the process. The last are those the process is built on.
Our Supplier Localisation Sprint turns this into a roadmap for a specific site. To discuss yours, start a conversation.