Chapter 11 - Best Practices for Fabless Companies

Abstract

This chapter outlines the operations processes and practices that must be addressed at emerging fabless companies to position them as a leading or best-in-class fabless company. Because managing cash flow is a very important aspect of life as a start-up, operations processes and practices must be in place during the various stages of development and production ramp. The foundry operations manager's contribution to the value-chain of a fabless company is extensive and overarching, resulting in improved product development and supply management efficiencies. The emergence of the fabless semiconductor market segment has largely been a result of the opportunity for rapid entry into markets where premiums are associated with being the first to market at high volume. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) fits the foundry model and the traditional fab, with the added benefit of managing a virtual manufacturing chain. MES systems that are designed to manage fab, test and assembly production do have those necessary features. Consequently, MES is being used as part of a solution that also includes supply chain Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), and business applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP).