The 2023 Critical Materials Council (CMC) Seminar in Taichung, Taiwan centered on, “Future-Proofing the Supply Chain,” as introduced by keynote speaker Donghui Lu, Corporate VP at Micron Taiwan. Mr.Lu’s presentation touched upon the risks and inefficiencies in global semiconductor materials sourcing and ultimately called for the tightening of the supply chain through three key actions: co-locate, invest, and expand. Lita Shon-Roy, President and CEO at TECHCET, built upon Lu’s points by highlighting key material supply “chokepoints,” and adding government support, improved trade relations, and more as solutions to alleviating them.
Alongside Lu and Shon-Roy were other thoughtful speakers presenting on logistics, quality, and metrology challenges within the local and global semiconductor materials supply chain. Cheng Ting-Fang, Chief Tech Correspondent at Nikkei Asia, unveiled the mystery of the PFAS supply chain, showing the existence of a PFAS village in Suzhou, China, and the growing industry reliance on this key supply source. New methods for smart data collaboration to sustain and improve materials quality were presented by Chris Han-Adebekun, VP of Business Development at Athinia, and Vish Srinivsian, Sr. Director of Supplier Programs at Micron. Furthermore, Taiwanese and US government officials participated in a panel discussion on future policy direction for the growth of the global semiconductor industry.
The Seminar was attended by suppliers and major chip fabrication companies from Asia, the US, and Europe. CMC members also participated in interactive private group meetings earlier that week at Micron’s facility in Taichung, where they discussed the impact of geopolitics on the semiconductor materials supply chains. TECHCET was highly satisfied with the engagement and insight brought to these events and is looking forward to the next set of CMC Member Meetings on April 9-10 and the CMC Conference on April 10-11, 2024, in Chandler, AZ.
