Abstract
A silicon wafer is a highly customized product made to the individual order varying its electrical and physical characteristics. Therefore, it has distinctive supply chain structure that is different from highly standardized commodity product. For high-volume/high-standardization product, it is general that a main stream of information flow initiated by the production planning of the manufacturers is usually directed to push both ways in a supply chain: upstream to the suppliers and downstream to the customers. Contrastingly, for low-volume/high-customization product, the information flow triggered by the fluctuating customer demand usually propagates upward to the suppliers through the manufacturers. Furthermore, for R &D based hi-technology product like silicon wafer, the interactive information feedback mechanism between manufacturer and customer, which is essential to the new product development process, is to be embedded in the supply chain. This article is a case study of supply chain management system of LG Siltron, a major Korean silicon wafer manufacturer. The SCM system entails special information structure fitting well typical high-variety/high-customization product, and also gives application possibilities to the R&D based high-technology product made to the individual customer order.
