Risk & Resilience in Semiconductor Supply Chains

This short course provides a focused introduction to the sources of risk, uncertainty, and dynamic behaviour in semiconductor supply chains.

It explores how inherent vulnerabilities, system structure, sourcing decisions, and supply chain dynamics shape resilience in one of the world’s most strategically important sectors.

Concepts from advanced risk management and supply chain dynamics will provide participants with a rich understanding of how to diagnose risks and design more resilient supply networks.

Who it’s for

This course is ideal for:

• Professionals working in semiconductor manufacturing, design, test, packaging, or equipment supply chains
• Members of the CSconnected cluster and its wider supply chain partners
• Supply chain managers, risk managers, planners, and operational staff seeking to enhance their analytical and strategic toolkit
• Individuals looking to retrain into the semiconductor sector or deepen their systems perspective
• Recent graduates entering the industry with an interest in risk and resilience
• Anyone wanting a practitioner‑ready overview of semiconductor supply chain challenges

No formal entry requirements apply. A general background in management, engineering, or operations is helpful.

Funding

You can qualify for a fully funded place on this course if you are 18 or older and either live or work in the UK. For more information and to apply please complete this form.

What you’ll learn

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Explain the sources of risk and uncertainty in semiconductor supply chains
• Identify built‑in structural risk, including barriers to de‑risking
• Apply risk identification and analysis tools, including Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Compare and evaluate sourcing strategies (single source, dual source, hybrid models)
• Understand the causes of demand variability and the bullwhip effect in semiconductor supply chains
• Recognise how system structure drives dynamic behaviour across the supply chain
• Evaluate the role of inventory, forecasting, and planning in mitigating volatility
• Understand how to design more resilient and agile semiconductor supply networks
• Reflect on risk responses and systemic interventions at mega, meso, and micro levels
• Appreciate how modelling and systems thinking support evidence‑based supply chain decisions

Topics covered

• Sources of uncertainty, vulnerability, and risk in global semiconductor networks
• Structural bottlenecks, technology chokepoints, and built‑in risks across the value chain
• Uncertainties across design, fabrication, packaging, logistics, and equipment supply
• Risk categorisation frameworks: supply, demand, process, geopolitical, environmental, cyber
• External risk scanning (PESTLE) and geopolitical/regulatory pressures
• Risk tools: risk registers, FMEA, and measurement approaches (likelihood, impact, detectability, velocity, supplier dependency)
• Sourcing strategies: single, dual, and multi‑sourcing, including trade‑offs
• Dual sourcing models: parallel, sequential, contingency‑based
• Mitigation strategies and Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
• System structure and its influence on supply chain behaviour
• Semiconductor supply chains at mega (geopolitical), meso (firm/industry), and micro (factory) levels
• Demand amplification and the bullwhip effect (forecasting, batching, lead times, capacity constraints)
• Role of inventory, forecasting, planning, and replenishment policies
• System dynamics modelling to identify root causes of variability
• Simulation and modelling to test supply chain design and resilience interventions

Benefits

This course offers:

• A practical toolkit for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation
• A systemic understanding of semiconductor supply chain behaviour
• Insight into sourcing strategy, resilience design, and dynamic improvement levers
• Case‑based learning from real semiconductor scenarios
• Application-focused discussion led by subject experts

Connection to a wider suite of semiconductor short courses developed in partnership with the CSconnected cluster

Teaching and useful information

Delivered by Professor Mohamed Naim, Dr Paul Wang and Dr Dnyaneshwar Mogale.

• This is a 2-day, in‑person course, built around presentations, group discussion, hands‑on analysis, business games / supply chain management simulation and facilitated reflection.
• Facilitated reflection after each session
• Delivered by academics specialising in supply chain risk, systems dynamics, and semiconductor sector research
• This course has been developed by Cardiff Business School in partnership with the South Wales compound semiconductor cluster (known as CSconnected)

Location