SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
October 2016
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Electronic Fluorocarbons Begins Construction in
Pennsylvania
Peregrine Semiconductor Moves UK Team to Larger
Facility
Kawasaki Heavy Eyes New Plant for Chipmaking Robots
Electronic Fluorocarbons begins Construction of
State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Facility in Pennsylvania.
Electronic Fluorocarbons, LLC (EFC), a leading provider to the
semiconductor industry of Electronic Specialty Gases (ESG’s), packaged and
purified to the highest specifications, announces that construction is well
underway on their state-of-the-art manufacturing and purification facility on a
15 acre greenfield site in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
The facility is expected to begin operations in the 3rd quarter of this year.
Upon completion, EFC will combine and move its current production facility in
Ivyland, Pennsylvania, to the larger Hatfield Township site.
The new location’s close proximity to major shipping ports
such as Philadelphia and New York/Elizabeth will provide a strategic advantage
through easier access to global markets resulting in faster order fulfillment.
This plant will have bulk capabilities, strategic customer
order staging, and research and development capabilities to allow EFC to expand
into new markets, adding advanced materials as well as additional Electronic
Specialty Gases to its core product line.
The Hatfield Township plant will include an R&D Center, with
improved analytical capabilities where EFC’s experienced scientists and
engineers will have the ability to develop new product lines beginning at the
bench top, through the pilot plant phase, and then scaling up to market
introduction. This state-of-the art center will enable EFC to research
purification methodologies that will exceed currently accepted standards in the
semi-conductor industry, while continuing to supply high quality,
cost-competitive materials in a safe and responsible manner.
“This purpose-built facility…represents a major milestone for
Electronic Fluorocarbons. It positions us well to execute on technical and
strategic initiatives in several high growth markets, and to provide our
customers with higher capacity and improved redundancy,” said Pavel Perlov,
Electronic Fluorocarbons’ CEO and Founder.
“Electronic Fluorocarbons decision to remain in Pennsylvania
will create high quality jobs over the next three years. The township,
county and state will also benefit from the company’s presence here,” said Pavel.
“We look forward to working closely with the local communities as we establish
and grow our manufacturing capabilities in Pennsylvania. We truly appreciate the
assistance of the staff of Hatfield Township, and other local officials in
siting, permitting, and financing this facility”.
Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., founder of RF SOI (silicon on
insulator) and pioneer of advanced RF solutions, announces the move of
its United Kingdom (UK) team into a larger office facility. Located in Theale,
this new office quadruples the working area and laboratory space to better
accommodate the UK team’s 90-percent growth since the Murata acquisition in Dec.
2014.
“Our team had outgrown our old facility—both in seating
capacity and in lab space to accommodate new product development—and it was time
to move into a larger office,” says Mark Moffat, managing director of Peregrine
Semiconductor Europe. “Our new ‘home’ not only better suits our current team,
but it has the capacity for our projected growth. With a prime location in the
Thames Valley, we are able to tap into the abundance of talent in this region
and build a team that is driving Peregrine’s growth in areas like 5G and power
management.”
Peregrine’s new UK office is located in the heart of the
Thames Valley at 1420 Arlington Business Park in Theale, Berkshire. The
4,600-square-foot office includes two fully equipped laboratories.
A global company, Peregrine’s corporate headquarters are
in San Diego, Calif. In addition to the Theale office, Peregrine has offices
in Arlington Heights, Illinois; Seongnam-si, South Korea; and Shanghai, China.
Kawasaki Heavy will boost output capacity for robots used to
move wafers within cleanrooms at semiconductor fabrication facilities.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries will construct a new domestic plant
for robots used in semiconductor fabrication, expecting demand to grow with
rising interest in the "internet of things."
The Japanese company will invest 10 billion yen ($99 million)
in the facility, which will be built at the Nishi-Kobe works in Kobe and is
slated to be in operation by the end of March 2018. The new plant will boast
279,760 sq. ft. (26,000 sq. meters) of floor space and make robots that
transport wafers inside clean rooms.
Kawasaki Heavy manufactures cleanroom robots at the nearby
Akashi works in Hyogo Prefecture but will transfer production to the Nishi-Kobe
works, which builds hydraulic equipment, and expand capacity. The company can
now turn out 800 such robots a month. The new plant will raise capacity about
60% to 1,300 units a month.
The company is the world's largest manufacturer of cleanroom
robots, controlling about half of the global market by volume. With chipmakers
enjoying strong orders from the automobile and consumer electronics industries,
Kawasaki Heavy foresees record sales of cleanroom robots this fiscal year.
McIlvaine Company
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