A virtual manufacturing execution information system for the fabless semiconductor virtual enterprise e-supply chain

The unique features of fabless semiconductor companies make them ideal candidates to work as virtual enterprise e-supply chains (VESC). The outsourcing strategy followed by the fabless semiconductor VESC presents the problem of executing the manufacturing plan in a distributed production environment. A critical success factor to overcome this problem is the ability to turn data into value-added coordination information, to on-time distribute it, and to share it.; A current research challenge is the development of a virtual manufacturing execution information system (VMEIS), an information-tracking manufacturing execution system (MES) developed for the outsourcing needs of the fabless semiconductor VESC.; Core element of the VMEIS is an information flow reference model of the fabless semiconductor VESC, put in terms of a set of object-oriented business documents containing the information elements required to support the management of the manufacturing execution tasks.; The major contributions of this research are a framework for the development of the information flow reference model, a set of 8 basic object-oriented business documents, and a methodology to evaluate the information handling approach followed by the VMEIS.; The approach followed to derive the development framework and the set of object-oriented business documents included the integration, mapping, and combination of current industry standards in the areas of supply chain management, execution of e-business processes, and communication of semiconductor manufacturing information throughout the semiconductor supply chain. The evaluation methodology uses an entropy-based measure to quantify the level of uncertainty the structure of the VMEIS impose to the fabless semiconductor VESC.; A panel of selected reviewers in the area of semiconductor supply chain management used their expert opinion to evaluate and validate the development framework and the set of object-oriented business. A statistical analysis of the reviewers' responses showed an overall agreement by the panel of experts with the concept, content, methodology, and benefits of the development framework; and the usefulness of the set of object-oriented business documents for the purposes of executing the manufacturing plan.