A Semiconductor Equipment Company's Procurement Process Management

Studies on purchasing and supply management is very developed, which include the theories from purchasing to supply chain management, from high-volume manufacturing to lean production, and from material requirement planning to enterprise resource planning. For managers and executives in purchasing and supply management, it is no longer a problem with find related theories, and the challenge is how to implement and practice those theories in the day to day working environment.Semiconductor industry enables the development of modern electronic manufacturing industry, and semiconductor equipment plays a critical role in the industry chain. There are some typical characteristics for semiconductor equipment manufacturing, like heavy investment, high technology, and cyclical market. All those make it challenging in terms of purchasing and supply management.This thesis presented the purchasing process optimization in the A company. Changes like purchasing re-organization, lean production implementation, and ERP systems integration, are made to improve the productivity and performance of purchasing function, which are in order to ensure higher quality at lower cost and faster delivery, eventually improve customer satisfaction.