Abstract

While a number of industries use inter-organization computer networks (IONs) to support electronic data interchange (EDI) for business purposes, their use in design and manufacturing is just now emerging. The following is a report on an exploratory investigation of the use of IONs in the semiconductor industry. Over 100 interviews were conducted. The data indicates that current and anticipated ION use in the semiconductor industry can positively affect coordination between firms. ION use can improve the ability of customers to develop in-house semicustom circuit designs, improve the turn around time of photomasks (i.e., the glass plates required to reproduce geometric design patterns onto silicon), facilitate retrieval of quality assurance and reliability data on finished products as well as eliminate redundant inspections and tests currently performed at customer sites, and improve monitoring capability of product development at vendor sites. In addition to potential improvements in coordination, two other issues associated with ION adoption are addressed in this report. The first focuses on the effective inter-organization use of computer networks as a function of intra-organization computer integration. And the second involves the shifts in interdependence between participating firms as a consequence of ION use. The current and anticipated use of IONs described in this report can be important for understanding the role of IONs in other industries that share similar characteristics with the semiconductor industry.


Click on the link below for the final report in pdf.
estrin_hart_0989.pdf