Oct 15 2012
ATMI, has announced plans to further increase its commitment to the Asia-Pacific microelectronics markets, and South Korea customers in particular, through a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to be built in JangAn, Gyeonggi province.
The investment was commemorated today with a ground-breaking ceremony held at the site where its newest manufacturing facility is to be constructed. The facility is expected to be ready for high-volume production in the second-half of 2013. During the ceremony, ATMI also announced the completion of its fifth global High Productivity Development Center (and the third in Asia), located inside the facilities of the Korea Advanced Nano Fab Center (KANC) in Suwon. The Center is fully operational with customer work already underway.
"Our manufacturing investments in South Korea will strengthen our supply chain and improve our interactions with leading customers. Our High Productivity Development investment will further enhance our ability to partner with our customers in Asia, enabling our local customers and ATMI to work together to solve problems more quickly and comprehensively than before," explained Doug Neugold, ATMI Chairman, CEO and President. "Proximity to our customers enables our teams to better collaborate on defining problems, react quickly as knowledge is gained, and move solutions to production rapidly, bringing operational efficiencies throughout our supply chain."
The new 11,000m2 (118,000ft2) facility will manufacture a range of products for customers in the semiconductor manufacturing market, including: SDS® and VAC® gas delivery systems and materials for semiconductor and solar ion implant applications; NOWPak® liner-based liquid delivery systems used in photolithography and display applications; and advanced materials used primarily for leading-edge semiconductor thin film deposition an surface preparation applications. Current plans project the new facility will host approximately 100 employees.
ATMI's existing global network of High Productivity Development Centers in Danbury, CT and San Jose, CA (USA), Kyoto, Japan and Hsinchu, Taiwan, are designed to help customers identify and validate new chemistry solutions rapidly through quicker learning cycles, saving time and money, and reducing risks. The new Center in Suwon will serve the same purpose and is currently equipped for research, development and applications support of new surface preparation and cleaning chemistries, and deposition materials. ATMI has future plans to expand R&D capabilities at this location for packaging materials and customized chemical development to support existing ATMI business with customers in the area.
"We have developed significant business opportunities in Asia and our new facilities and capabilities here will deliver on these opportunities in a direct and efficient way," added ATMI's Vice President/General Manager for Asia, Cheoroo Won. "South Korea is a logical location for investing in building capacity, as the local technical expertise and infrastructure is very strong. In addition, it allows us to more closely collaborate with our customers locally, providing access to more services and improved response times."
The invitation-only groundbreaking event was attended by ATMI customers and employees, officials from the Gyeonggi province and Hwaseong city governments and ATMI executives. Won delivered the welcome speech, Neugold shared ATMI's approach to customer collaboration in the region and an official from the Gyeonggi government also addressed the attendees. After the talks, the leaders broke the ground with a shovel to signify the launch of the new construction project.