LIKE MANY COMPANIES,2 billion process-control system manufacturer KLA-Tencor Corp.of San Jose,Calif.,came to a realization not long ago that its 20 separate divisions were buying a lot of the same materials.Historically,the company's structure was decentralized and its business units were given freedom to source what they needed from suppliers they had relationships with.Part of the reason for that were the wide fluctuations in the semiconductor equipment industry it works in.
展开▼
