Seminar Overview
This seminar is designed for procurement professionals and team leaders working with electronic components and semiconductors. Participants will reframe semiconductors as a "strategic commodity" and build a structured understanding of manufacturing processes, cost structures, and geopolitical risk — connecting these insights directly to daily procurement operations and broader business strategy.
Combining beginner and intermediate content into a single intensive 6-hour program, This seminar features numerous interactive exercises designed to spark new insights and deepen your understanding of semiconductor sourcing.
Do Any of These Challenges Sound Familiar ?
- You buy semiconductors, but struggle to explain how they are actually made.
- Why is semiconductor sourcing so different from other commodities
- Want to understand semiconductor business models from a procurement perspective
- Selecting suppliers based on more than price
- Aligning sourcing risks with management and business teams
- Managing geopolitical risks in semiconductor sourcing
Skills Gained
- Industry：Understanding of semiconductor roles, classifications, and history, plus the profit structures and supply chain dynamics
- Knowledge：Grasp of front-end and back-end manufacturing processes
- Judgement：Evaluate suppliers through a business lens, not just price
- Growth：Become a procurement professional who can speak to management about semiconductor sourcing
■Information
Program
１．Semiconductors in Our Daily Lives
1. The Role and Classification of Semiconductors
2. The Dawn of Semiconductors
3. Japan's Share of the Semiconductor Market
A session exploring the history of semiconductors, examining the roles and types of semiconductors found in our daily lives, and understanding how they are classified.
２．Semiconductor Manufacturing Methods and its Characteristics
1. Semiconductor Manufacturing Models
2. Buyer Exam - Question 1, 2
?Characteristics of the Revenue Structure
This session will cover the key points regarding production concept and revenue structure. Let’s review the key considerations in procurement through a practice exercise (buyer exam)
３．Basics of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Process
１. Overview
２. Front-end
３. Back-end（Lead-frame Type）
４. Package Technology
?Virtual Tour
We have outlined the basic semiconductor manufacturing process. Using flowcharts, images, and videos, it will take a virtual tour of the key stages of production. This session will lead you to the basic semiconductor manufacturing process and explain why procurement lead times are so long.
４．Semiconductor Procurement vs. Other Components
１. Comparison by type of Commodity
２. Buyer Exam – Question 3
Semiconductor procurement can be said to be unique compared to the procurement of other components. This session will help you understand these unique characteristics by comparing semiconductor procurement methods with those used for other components from a procurement perspective. In the practice exercise (buyer exam), we will tackle a problem related to delivery schedules.
５．Basics of Semiconductor Cost
１. Moore's Law, Larger Wafer vs. Die Shrink
２. Four Perspectives on Cost Reduction
３. Chip Cost and Manufacturing Cost
４. Buyer Exam - Question４、５、６、７
?Basic Cost Estimation for Buyers
This session covers the fundamentals of semiconductor costs. You will learn about the key parameters that determine semiconductor costs. We will provide an Excel worksheet for practice during the seminar. Through practice problems (buyer exams), we will explore how costs are calculated in scenarios such as larger die sizes and die shrink.
６．Business structure of the semiconductor industry
１. Business Structure of Semiconductor
２. High Risk, High Return
?Businesses with high fixed costs
We don’t often have the opportunity to delve into the business structure of the semiconductor industry. In this session, we’ll analyze the financial statements of major semiconductor companies to infer their business structures. We’ll explore the characteristics of the semiconductor industry – high proportion of fixed costs - as revealed by these analyses
７．Mini-Mini Geopolitics x Semiconductors
１. Look-back of the Semiconductor Industry
２. A Chronological Overview
３. Point by Major Countries
?Do we know a choke-point for Japan?
Semiconductors are classified as "strategic materials." Historically, the relationship between the military and semiconductors has been a key issue on both the economic and national security agendas. This session will give you a different point to think of the industry.
８. Wrap up
１. Q&A
?Takeaways
✓ Semiconductor_CostExercise（Excel）
Details
Provided by
Kenji SHINKAI
Global Sourcing Academy & Office, Representative
Target Participants
- Procurement professionals and team leaders with approximately 5 years of experience
- Procurement who have working familiarity with semiconductors but want to organize and deepen their knowledge systematically
- Buyers who want to move up to Category or Commodity Manager of Semiconductors
Place
At your office or site
Estimated Hours
Approx. 6 hours
Price
- Transportation expenses and accommodation costs (when travel requires an overnight stay), with lodging expenses limited to JPY 15,000 (excluding tax) per night.
- Course Fee (Excluding tax): JPY 25,000 per participant (If you feel that the course did not deliver the value you expected, we will refund the full course fee. Register with confidence)
How to Apply
We are happy to send you some samples. Please use the button on the right to contact us by email.