The semi-official Institute for Information Industry (III,
At the seminar, which was sponsored by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
The joint venture is known as Semiconductor Contract Manufacturing B2B Integration (SCMI).
Also participating in the seminar were Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (
The SCMI project, the first of its kind in the world, provides a quick and convenient method for semiconductor buyers to make orders from their contractors via the Internet, according to Huang Jung-chiou (
According to Huang, the SCMI mechanism is aimed at linking semiconductor buyers and their suppliers through an Internet-based platform and a system of standard practices.
An e-business environment and an automated process help customers save considerable time and production costs from the start of a deal through its completion.
The SCMI project is a comprehensive e-trade and supply-chain environment and a standard process through which business-to-business deals in the semiconductor industry can be closed in a much shorter time than was previously possible, Huang said.
The project has gained an approval certificate issued by Rosetta Net, which is a top consortium of computer makers, resellers and users that is creating e-commerce standards for transaction-centered data exchanges using a standardized set of terms for products, partners and transaction properties, Hung said -- saying that this is proof of Taiwan's flagship role in the field.
The SCMI e-trade process will be of great help for Taiwan-based semiconductor contractors in receiving foreign orders, thus strengthening their production capabilities and sharpening their international competitiveness, Hung said.
The SCMI project was initiated by the four semiconductor companies mentioned above in December 2001 with government funding from the ministry, which has been keen to promote a technology development program since 1999.
Demand for chips began picking up in the middle of last year, and Merrill Lynch & Co forecasts global chip sales will rise 23 percent this year, followed by 16 percent growth next year.
The Semiconductor Industry Association predicts that global semiconductor sales will jump 19 percent this year, having risen 18 percent to US$166.4 billion last year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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