Framework development of an engineering-chain-management-system for the semiconductor industry

The engineering chain operation defined in the semiconductor industry results from the considerable engineering work involved in the design cycle of microelectronic devices. Beside supply chain, which supports mass-production operation, the industry needs a robust system and method for coping with IC design risk because of semiconductor manufacturing complexity and operation efficiency among distributed design collaboration resources. This study develops an engineering chain management system (ECMS) for supporting the coherent engineering-chain operations. Based on the functional requirement of engineering chain, a systematic approach is presented for developing an ECMS framework. This framework provides an architecture for system development to support efficient and effective semiconductor engineering-chain operations. The framework has the potential to become a common and practical application for all semiconductor companies, including foundry service and fables companies, and even companies involved in IDM.