First Solar, Inc.

The performance of a company depends heavily on its suppliers. Therefore, a reliable network of partners (suppliers, dealers and manufacturers) is elementary. In bills of lading, a total of 23 international suppliers of First Solar, Inc. could be identified on which the company is relying. One of the suppliers is, for example, the company First Solar Vietnam Manufacturing C O., Ltd., which delivered 129 shipments.

Among 7 identified supplying countries, an important source to purchase products from is: Vietnam. 13,804 shipments of goods could be identified from this country.

Get an overview of First Solar, Inc.’s international procurement and its 23 suppliers with Company Transparency

Generally you can differentiate the supply chain or supply network of First Solar, Inc. by two perspectives:

• The supplier side (a so-called Tier-1-supplier is a direct supplier, Tier-2 is a supplier of the Tier-1 supplier, Tier-n is a supplier at any level in the First Solar, Inc. supply network).
• The buyer side (a so-called Tier-1 buyer is a direct buyer, Tier-2 is a buyer of the Tier-1 buyer, Tier-n is a buyer at any level in the First Solar, Inc. distribution network).

To ensure business stability and continuity, a supply chain or supply network must be constructed in such a way that external influences can cause as little damage as possible to First Solar, Inc.. This applies both in the area of procurement (the loss of a supplier must be covered by an alternative supplier) as in the area of sales (the loss of a buyer must be covered by an alternative buyer).

Risks can generally be considered as the non-availability of goods, through cutback or complete halt of production, or the potential loss of business partners, violating compliance rules (e.g. protection of the environment, labor legislation) and thus drop out of the supply network.

This risk should not necessarily be limited to the direct business partner (Tier 1), it involves the entire supply chain, unless sufficient alternative suppliers and buyers have been put in place.

Get an overview of the international supply chain of First Solar, Inc. (upstream/procurement and downstream/sales) from Tier-1 to Tier-n

E.G.: Tier 1 supplier First Solar Vietnam Manufacturing C O., Ltd.

ABRAMS world trade wiki not only shows direct suppliers and customers of the first tier (Tier-1). With just one click in our tool Supply Chain Intelligence you get a comprehensive insight into the supply network with multiple tiers (Tier-n) beyond the first tier.

Each tier in the supply chain or supply network on the supplier side of First Solar, Inc. involves a single risk. The more tiers, the more difficult it is to analyze and monitor the business partners. Suppliers of suppliers are generally unknown, so there is already an increasing risk at the second (Tier 2) level.

If e.g. a first Tier supplier is not adding any value, the supply chain can be shortened and the risk of failure can be minimized by skipping this supplier. A previous Tier-2 supplier now turns into a Tier-1 supplier, which we call "go-direct". In our tool Supply Chain Intelligence as far as international suppliers are concerned, this analysis can be done with one click:

Analyze the potential of shortening and therefore stabilizing the supply chain of First Solar, Inc.

Based on the analysis of international bills of lading (bill of lading/ bills of lading/ BOL), a total of 20 different product categories that have been purchased by First Solar, Inc., can be identified.

These are classified by means of HS codes (HTS codes or customs tariff numbers).

For example, HS code 854143 classifies the following products:

„Photovoltaic cells assembled in modules or made up into panels". This HS code was sighted 4,634 times in total.

From the product descriptions of the analyzed bills of lading (bill of lading/ bills of lading/ BOL), the following purchased products from various suppliers can be identified as examples:

Get an overview of internationally purchased products by First Solar, Inc. with Company Transparency

Each tier in the supply chain or supply network of First Solar, Inc. is adding value and therefore costs. The more tiers, the more expensive the product gets. Supply chains are normally not very transparent, trade secrets are part of the survival tactics in each stage of the value chain, especially for trading companies.

If e.g. a Tier-1 supplier from First Solar, Inc. that primarily trades a product and doesn’t add any value (only fulfills the distributor function) it is possible to shorten the supply chain and reduce purchasing costs. A previous Tier-2 supplier now turns into a Tier-1 supplier, which we call "go-direct". In our tool Supply Chain Intelligence as far as international suppliers are concerned, this analysis can be done with one click:

Analyze the potential of shortening the supply chain of First Solar, Inc. and saving costs on the procurement side.

Based on the analysis of international bills of lading (bill of lading/ bills of lading/ BOL), a total of 7 different product categories sold by First Solar, Inc., can be identified.

These are classified by means of HS codes (HTS codes or customs tariff numbers).

For example, HS code 854143 classifies the following products:

„Photovoltaic cells assembled in modules or made up into panels". This HS code was sighted 2 times in total.

Get an overview of internationally sold products by First Solar, Inc. with Company Transparency

Each company contributes significantly minimizing risks for its buyers, through its own stability. Internal risks (endogenous factors) can be e.g. financially (financial ratios, free cash flow, balance sheets) or operationally (production, lead times). Since 2021, external risks have increased due to worldwide shortages and are an important factor as to whether a supplier such as First Solar, Inc. can itself reliably deliver due to external dependencies (exogenous factors).

To assess this, data analysis should be conducted to get practical answers:

How is the supply chain or supply network structured on the supplier side of First Solar, Inc.? Are there suppliers or products in the supply chain that are reported as critical, e.g. in international media?

The more constant incoming shipments, the better one can determine possible procurement problems of a company like First Solar, Inc.

Since 2021, there are increasingly external factors due to global supply shortages, whether a company, no matter manufacturer or distributor, can reliably deliver through dependencies.

Based on the statistical trend of shipments (in terms of the number of shipments and respectively the quantity of goods) it is possible to analyze current procurement stability and thus ultimately also to derive an indication of the company’s delivery and performance capability.

Here you can see an analysis of shipments from international suppliers to First Solar, Inc. in the last few months with Company Transparency

Sourcing products as regionally as possible with short shipping routes and the use of sustainable materials define the CO₂ footprint and sustainability of the products of any company, including First Solar, Inc.

After many companies, predominantly due to cost savings, have been building their networks increasingly internationally for years, there is now an increasing trend of so-called “on-shoring” or “near-shoring”. Attempting to include suppliers who are the closest to the supply chain because of financial, risk, environmental and image aspects:

• Saving international freight costs, which have risen extremely since 2021.
• Minimizing risks caused by logistics problems (e.g. the Suez Canal obstruction in 2021)
• Attempting to reduce the carbon footprint when purchasing products.
• Setting and meeting sustainability goals for own products of First Solar, Inc.

Based on the development of current shipments (in terms of number of shipments and quantity of goods) and changes in international suppliers and routes, it is possible to analyze the extent to which First Solar, Inc. has already made efforts in recent months and years, to focus on environmentally relevant aspects, like carbon footprint and sustainability in its business activities.

Get an overview of the international shipments that have an impact on the CO₂ footprint, as well as the sustainability of First Solar, Inc.

Generally you can differentiate the competition of First Solar, Inc. by the purchase and sales perspective.

• Start the competitive analysis on the purchase side.
• Start the competitive analysis on the sales side.

Competitors of First Solar, Inc. on the purchase side (procurement of raw materials and components for production or distribution) are exposed on ABRAMs wiki under Competitive Intelligence, purchased products, classified by HS-Codes (e.g. 854143, 854140) or by top product terms.

Competitors on the sales side of First Solar, Inc. (selling raw materials or components for production or distribution) are exposed on ABRAMS wiki under Competitive Intelligence, sold products classified by HS-Codes (e.g. 854143, 732690) or by top product terms.