During the manufacturing cycle for a typical semiconductor chip, which ranges from thirty to seventy-five days, constant communication takes place between various business entities involved as the product moves through the supply chain. Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) factories, warehouses, foundries, assembly and test subcontractors as well as forwarders need to act as a single “Virtual Factory”. Production schedules, product data, plant data and status information to be synchronized and made available throughout the supply chain of the collaborating partners. To support this Virtual Factory concept, RosettaNet has initiated several programs that:

• Standardize the common business processes of contract manufacturing to significantly reduce the cost and lead-time to change manufacturing capacity and location.
• Provide data visibility into the virtual manufacturing environment.
• Ensure the quality of the outsourced products.

To implement their version of a “Virtual Factory” STMicroelectronics used RosettaNet standardized Partner Interface Processes to reengineer their internal process to create an end-to-end exchange of Work In Progress (WIP) and Logistics Data with their subcontractors. This case study provides an insight into the experiences of STMicroelectronics with their adoption of RosettaNet standards – what were the business drivers behind this decision, what were the benefits derived by STMicroelectronics and its trading partners and finally, what were the key success factors for this initiative.