Tool Availability at a Supplier to the Semiconductor Industry Development of a Supply Chain Operational Data Store

Abstract

This research investigates a tool management problem at a large supplier to the semiconductor industry. The problem revolves around shortages of tools used for system installations at customer sites. The research starts with a literature study, where findings on tool management and tool unavailability from academic journals and books are integrated with a standardised logistics concept for root cause analyses, in order to find root causes for tool shortages. The result is a theoretical Cause & Effect framework, consisting out of eight root cause categories: maintenance, logistics, inventory planning, project planning, organisational structure, human factors, data management and knowledge management. The literature framework is then used to structure an empirical investigation at the company. In this study, qualitative information from semi-structured interviews and a workshop are triangulated with quantitative data analyses to develop a Cause & Effect diagram for the company. Then, a decision matrix is used to select the most important root cause category to address. Consequently, a solution is developed in this selected root cause category: data management. This solution takes the shape of an Operational Data Store (ODS). The ODS’ purpose is to gather, store and present data that can be used for insights regarding daily operations. In this project’s case the specific purpose was to provide increased visibility of the supply chain, to prevent stock shortages of tools. The construction of this solution is based on daily extractions of input data on tools from databases, an ERP system and unstructured data spread across the supply chain operations. Once gathered, data is cleaned, merged, sorted and stored for analysis. For reporting of stock shortages data is presented in a spreadsheet format where tools affected by stock shortages within the coming 4 months are displayed in an interactive dashboard. These reports improve daily operations for a team within the supply chain operations department at the company, by providing an increased planning capability and thus a better operational outlook.