Supply Chain


IHS iSuppli. Both companies told IHS theywill resume production of the rawmaterial, copper-clad laminate (CCL),within twoweeks.


However,with current inventory levels, IHS believes there is


sufficient supply of finished PCBs and rawCCLmaterial to keep electronics production lines running at global electronics manufacturers, as long as the interruption doesn't last significantly longer than twoweeks.


DRAM


Plant assessments underway


Most Japanese semiconductor companies are still evaluating the damage caused by the earthquake. Panasonic has reported some minor injuries to employees at several of its companies including Panasonic ElectricWorks Co., Ltd. Koriyama Factory,which manufactures electronic materials. The company also reported damage to equipment, buildings and production. No further detailswere provided at that time.


Texas Instruments (TI)


reported that itsMiho and Aizu sites and its Tokyo officeswere impacted by the initial earthquake. The chipmaker reports no injuries to employees at these sites. The company estimates itwill reinstate production atMiho in stages, beginningwith several lines inMay and returning the factory to full production inmid-July, whichmeans full shipment capability in September.


TI's fab in Aizu-wakamatsu estimates itwill have full production


bymid-April. A fourth TI site in Hijiwas not impacted. (See news story on page 12.)


Toshiba's NAND production line only experienced aminor


setback; however, the chipmaker is evaluting the impact that materials supply, traffic and infrastructure challengeswill have on the company, reported DRAMeXchange. Toshiba's 12-inch plant in Iwate Prefecture primarily produces logic and consumer ICs.


IHS iSuppli reported that ElpidaMemory said its semiconductor


assembly facility in Yamagata has been damaged and a lack of electricity is impacting production. The Yamagata facility's utilization rate nowis at less than 50 percent.


The earthquake also has damaged about 40 percent of the total


wafer capacity of Renesas Electronics Corp., reported IHS iSuppli. The company has stopped production at its Tsugaru fabs producing analog and discrete devices, the Naka facilitymaking system-on- chip andmicrocontroller devices, and the Takasaki and Kofu fabs making analog and discrete parts.


In addition, half of the total wafer capacity at Fujitsu has been damaged.While the company's fabs and wafer equipment are


30 | April 2011


NAND Flash IC


LED Green Energy Green Ener Miy Seik Micr


HiroshimaHir Elpida


HyogyHyogo Micron


(CMOS sensor) CMOS sensor) TOKY TOKYOKYO Chiba Sho a Denk Nagoya To


Tokushima Nichia


Tokushima Yokk Toshiba/ Toyoda Gosei Tosh ba/SanDisk


Yokkaichi Mie oshiba/SanDiski


Source: DRAMeXchange Showa Denko K.K.


Fukushima So


ushima Sony


Miyagi Seiko/Mitsubishi Ep pi IIwate w Seiko/Mitsubishi o/Mitsubishi Epicenter Iwatewa Toshiba oshiba


intact, the shortage of electricity, gas and wafers means it will take three or four weeks for the company to recover production, said IHS.


IHS iSuppli reports no damage at AKMSemiconductor's fab


producing electronics compasses for the Apple iPad 2. To keep ahead of the


changes in the supply chain as a result of the Japan earthquake, several companies and organizations have launchedwebsites to aggregate supplier updates. These include websites created by the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) (www.eciaonline.org /japan.html) and the element14 engineering community (www.element14.com /japanemergency).


Panic ormeasured buying?


Many electronic OEMs worldwidemay be engaging in panic or speculative buying of semiconductors and other electronic components, spurred by fears of supply


disruptions fromJapan, saidmarket research analysts. Electronic distributors are reporting a surge in orders fromOEMcustomers, trying to ensure they have sufficient inventory on hand to ride out any interruption in supply, said IHS iSuppli.


"Customers immediate needs are by and large covered, but in the


absence of information everybody is panicking a little bit,” said Michael Knight, vice president of productmarketing and supplier marketing, TTI Inc, Ft.Worth, Tex. “There is a lot of panic activity where people are trying to figurewhat'smade in Japan orwhat has some sort of rawmaterial that is coming out of Japan, and then secondly, try to horde some of that."


Knight says customers are requesting a six-month safety or buffer


stock for components across the board, but he says this hasn't translated into higher prices. In addition, TTI's customers aren't facing any shortages because the distributor has product pipelines for themdue to their long-termagreements.


Virtually all of TTI's supplierswere in central or south Japan so


theyweren't directly impacted by either the earthquake or the tsunami butwhat they are affected by is rolling blackouts, all the power problems and difficulty inmoving parts, said Knight.


"Even if parts are getting out of the factory, getting themto


where you can ship themhas been tough, but those are near-term problems thatwill resolve themselves over the next fewweeks," said Knight. "We are all in a kind ofwait-and-seemode to see if product starts flowing out of Japan again."


However, DRAMeXchange says buyers who expect a potential www.electronics-sourcing.com


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