A possible remedy is the use of the Supplier Managed
Inventory (SMI) concept, where all demand figures sent
to the semiconductor suppliers are based on the master
production schedule of the automotive supplier.
Accordingly, local material planning runs in the
automotive production sites are no longer required and
planning-related demand fluctuations are avoided.
Especially if a shortage of material is anticipated, the
local plant logistics experts of the automotive suppliers
tend to build up higher safety stocks or to combine
demands to larger lots. However, from a company-wide
perspective and from the semiconductor suppliers’ point
of view, these planning-related interventions lead to
unclear planning figures. Applying the SMI principle
and letting the supplier take responsibility for
maintaining inventories leads to increased visibility into
the global supply chain and ensures regular supply with
semiconductor products for all plants [20]. As a result,
the semiconductor suppliers get better planning figures
for capacity planning.