One small change can lead to large complexity: a first glimpse at the Master Data change and its impact on the semiconductor supply chain

Abstract

Modern supply chain is a complex system characterized by an increasing number of interactive and interdependent components with dynamic behaviors working together as an entirety. The system complexity is not only determined by the internal mechanisms of the problem but is also affected by the changing environment. Much research and practice on complexity management is about the structural analysis, concentrating on the components and their interconnections. However, the measurement of dynamic changes has not gained much attention. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework to assess changes in supply chain. A conceptual model is employed to model the hierarchical supply chain and classify changes into different levels. One change scenario can be described as a group of atomic changes acting on the predefined elements and relationships. The impact rules of change are also provided. We thus propose an approach with four steps to evaluate the change impact. A practical example from supply chain Master data is used to illustrate this approach. It’s a surprise to see a tiny change from the bottom level could have significant impact on the whole system. The research on change analysis will finally benefit the complexity measurement as an influence factor of metrics.