The impact of industry 4.0 on the supplier management strategy: An example on Taiwan semiconductor

After the financial crisis in 2008, a lot of countries in the world especially in Europe and the United States are all paying high attention on the development of the economy, and the Industry 4.0 is becoming a very important topic for every country since it has been discussed since 2011 in Germany. Manufacturers around the world will be affected by the trend of Industry 4.0 including the Taiwan Semiconductor, such as the production technology, business models, and management methods. This study mainly explores how Taiwan’s Semiconductor industries can adjust their strategy in supplier management factors in order to adapt the changes in new innovation and factory process of the Industry 4.0 and create the “triple win” among customers, enterprises, and suppliers. This research points out the strategic factors of supplier management in Industry 4.0 should include “quality,” “price (cost),” “delivery,” “service (flexible product/cooperation),” “information and data management,” and “sustainable index.” Through decision making trial and evaluation laboratory method (DEMATEL), the difference of the strategic factors in supplier management between the traditional management and Industry 4.0 is on the new strategies of “information and data management” and “sustainable index.”. © 2019, Chinese Society for Quality. All rights reserved.