The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Posted: 19 Apr 2012

See all articles by Chen-Fu Chien

Chen-Fu Chien

National Tsing Hua University

Chintay Shih

National Tsing Hua University

Jack Chang

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: August 13, 2009

Abstract

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and reactive scheduling. Students use two of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's mainstream processes as a vehicle for analysis. The case describes a real situation in which upper management accepts an emergency order. By working through the impact on the production system, students should develop a feel for how shifting demand in a large factory that is structured as a job shop alters the demands on, and utilization rates of expensive capital equipment in a complex way. As bottlenecks shift, students can explore several alternatives, each with different costs and trade-offs. Students may also reflect on the true cost of providing the extraordinary service, and whether management properly takes the impact on operations into account when it makes customer commitments.

Learning Objective: To understand the impact of disruptions on job shop production systems.

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Suggested Citation

Chien, Chen-Fu and Shih, Chintay and Chang, Jack, The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (August 13, 2009). Harvard Business School Technology & Operations Mgt. Unit Case No. 610-003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2041966.

Chen-Fu Chien (Contact Author)

National Tsing Hua University ( email )

Department of Industrial Engineering
and Engineering Management
Hsin Chu 30043
Taiwan

Chintay Shih

National Tsing Hua University ( email )

No. 101, Section 2, Guangfu Road, East District
Hsin Chu 3, 300
China

Jack Chang

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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