IBM Engineers Advanced Supply Chain Management Solution for Analog Devices Inc.31 March 2006
IBM® and Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a leadingsemiconductor manufacturer, today announced the completion of anengineering and design collaboration on a customized, highly-integratedsupply chain solution that has allowed ADI to improve order and deliveryprocesses, achieve improved customer service levels and continuouslymonitor customer orders, and adjusting manufacturing plans, supplies, andinventory to match customer requirements.
As part of the project, IBM and ADI engineers worked together to customizea suite of advanced supply chain planning tools and software that enableADI to accurately model its supply chain and to dynamically re-optimizeproduction plans at all levels to match customer demand. By collaboratingtogether and using sophisticated algorithms developed specifically for ADIby the IBM engineering team, the project was implemented in just 11 months,versus the typical industry standard of 18-24 months for a supply chainthis complex.
The project was spearheaded by IBM engineers within the TechnologyCollaboration Solutions group using IBM's Operational Framework forAdvanced Supply Chain Planning software solution as a platform. Theengineering team also collaborated with supply chain experts from IBM's owninternal supply chain, who shared best practices on how the companyrecently achieved historic inventory lows and improved customersatisfaction.
"Increasingly, clients are looking to collaborate with IBM on criticaltechnology innovation to help them be more responsive to market demands,and use information systems to create and maintain distinct competitiveadvantages in key areas including reinventing research and development andsupply chain innovation," said Anthony Yu, Vice President, SemiconductorIndustry, Engineering & Technology Services, Technology CollaborationSolutions. "In the labs, warehouse and data center, IBM engineers workedside by side with ADI engineers to apply IBM's industry knowledge andintellectual property to help ADI improve their overall businessprocesses."
ADI manufactures and ships more than 10,000 different end items to morethan 60,000 customers all over the world. By using this new supply chain,ADI can more accurately match supply with demand at any given moment.Having this information readily available translates into a competitiveadvantage for ADI because it enables the sales team to provide aggressiveyet accurate lead times to customers, while at the same time helping tooptimize inventory levels.
"At ADI, our goal is to keep lead times consistently short for ourcustomers while not sacrificing delivery performance. By collaboratingwith the engineers of IBM, we created a system that takes our bestpractices and turns them into a systematic way of operating all the time,across our entire supply chain," said Mike Errera, Director of WorldwidePlanning at Analog Devices, Inc. "With the suite of tools we have in placenow, ADI is raising our order and delivery performance to match the samehigh level of performance that our customers expect from the analog anddigital signal processing products we manufacture."
The semiconductor market is historically cyclical and components have longmanufacturing cycle times, typically 10 to 16 weeks, encompassing waferfabrication, wafer test (probe), assembly, final test and packaging.Throughout the manufacturing process, the combination of flows expand as'chips' from specific wafer designs are assembled into a variety ofdifferent packages styles which are then tested to different grades forvarious combinations of speed, accuracy, resolution, or power consumption.The dramatic improvements in order and delivery processing allow ADI torapidly respond to market fluctuations and customer needs while accuratelybalancing supply and demand.
About ADI
Analog Devices, Inc. (www.analog.com) is a semiconductor manufacturerspecializing in high-performance analog, mixed-signal and digital signalprocessing integrated circuits (ICs). ADI's signal processing ICs makepictures vibrant, voices clear, connections continuous, and productsportable. Founded in 1965, the Norwood, Mass.-based ADI currently has aworldwide workforce of approximately 9,000 employees, working in 30 designcenters located in 12 countries.
About IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions
IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions, a unit of IBM Systems & TechnologyGroup, combines Microelectronics, Technology Development and Manufacturing,OEM Systems Sales, STG Intellectual Property, Next GenerationTelecommunications, and Engineering & Technology Services. The TechnologyCollaboration unit integrates the skills of IBM engineers, consultants andtechnical professionals, with IBM's leading edge technology and access toits intellectual property assets within IBM, to enable a new level ofcollaborative innovation between IBM and its clients.
IBM engages clients across industries to help clients reinvent research &development, create unique products and solutions, bring those solutions tomarket faster, and provide them support in finding new market and revenueopportunities to help clients transform their businesses. IBM is theworld's largest information technology company, with over 80 years ofleadership in helping businesses innovate. For more information about IBMand its Engineering & Technology Services business unit, visit:http://www.ibm.com/technology.
IBM is a registered trademark of IBM. All other company, product, orservice names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
Contact:Charles ZinkowskiIBM Media Relations631-294-6201charlesz@us.ibm.com
SOURCE: IBM
Source: marketwire
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