FabMkt: Simplifying Component Sourcing for Engineers and Industry Professionals
FabMkt is a
streamlined digital marketplace designed to simplify and accelerate component sourcing for semiconductor FABs.
Problem Research Design Solution Impact
The Challenge
Sourcing semiconductor equipment is a high-stakes scramble, with few marketplaces and clunky interfaces costing FABs $4,000 per minute when errors occur. Engineers are stuck with platforms like eBay—confusing, unreliable, and slow. They need a faster, smarter solution.
Meet Ellen.
ENGINEER & FLOOR MANAGER
SAMSUNG, Austin, TX
Ellen, an engineer, battles daily frustration sourcing semiconductor parts, facing delays and stress—where every minute lost can cost $1,667 per minute. FabMkt changes everything—she swiftly finds, orders, and receives the right part in under a week, saving $15,000 previously lost to inaccessible platforms and sparing her team costly setbacks.
“Ideally things would be categorized well and the most important thing would be that every specific spec would be filterable.”
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FABMKT
⌾ FABMKT
Competition Analysis
eBay – Too Broad: Great navigation but hard to find exact components.
CAE – Opaque & Unclear: Semiconductor-focused but poor pricing transparency and low-quality images.
Summary:
Time-Consuming & Costly
Engineers waste hours searching, delaying production.
User Research & Interviews
Interviews: After 10 interviews of real FAB professionals, we confidently concluded that the major pain points were:
1. Searchability
2. Usability
3. Lack of Up-To-Date Details
4. Shipping and Timing Concerns
FUTURE IDEATION
◉ AI Recommendations: match buyers and sellers with relevant tools
◉ FABMKT Mobile App
◉ Sustainability Filters: highlight eco-friendly or refurbished parts
Insights & Summary
◉ Need more user testing;
◉ Deeper research on search inefficiency - Users currently wastes 8.5 seconds searching multiple tabs for tools.
◉ Recognize the industry's vast, untapped potential for FABMKT.