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Chemical Movement And Condition Tracking
August 28, 2006
•Article: Chemical Tracking
If you think forking over 100 bucks for a fine bottle of Italian wine is rough, try Photo-Resist. A Don Perignon-sized bottle of delicious Photo-Resist, a chemical used in the Semiconductor manufacturing process, could cost you more than a couple thousand dollars. It would probably also cause seizers, blind you, and undoubtedly be the last thing you ever drank.
Photo-Resist is one of many uber-expensive chemicals a high-tech manufacturer uses in the sub-fab manufacturing process. Chemicals are ordered by the manufacturer based on a forecasted need, from an overseas supplier. To cut production costs and keep up with a fiercely competitive market the manufacturer outsourced storage of the chemical to a 3PL. Chemicals also must be kept at a consistent temperature throughout the entire supply chain, and must be discarded should they drop below or rise above the required levels.
The manufacturer was having problems with its supply chain coordination. The chemical supplier lacked visibility of 3PL warehouse inventory levels and movements of chemicals between the warehouse and the manufacturing facility, creating a latency of demand signals. Chemicals were also being quarantined due to expiration and an inability to guarantee that the containers' temperature had not been compromised. The high-tech manufacturer needed to increase visibility and efficiency of chemical inventory and movements within its supply chain to reduce logistical errors that were resulting in bloated inventory levels and increased quarantine.
The manufacturer sought a solution that could sense inventory movements, manage replenishment models, and provide visibility between all supply chain partners. The system needed to communicate in an open standard to the SAP ERP system in the manufacturing facility, the WMS system used by the 3PL company, and the Inventory Management system used by the supplier. Further, the solution had to be able to connect/communicate to multiple devices, such as temperature sensors and RFID devices, at geographically dispersed locations along the supply chain.
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