Amkor's China Factory Ready for Customer Qualification.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers CHANDLER, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2001 Just five months after its lease was signed, Amkor Technology's (Nasdaq - AMKR AMKR Amkor Technology ) packaging and test facility at the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone near Shanghai, China is ready to begin customer qualification and test services. Since the mid-January lease signing, Amkor has completed all licensing, environmental impact studies and infrastructure processes including water, gas and electric connections and constructed the first module a Class 10K clean room complete with packaging and test equipment. An initial staff of engineers, technicians and operators, most of which are local residents, has been hired and trained. Amkor has also established a supply chain management system that ensures a ready supply of raw materials and equipment is available to the facility on a moment's notice. "We have been able to move very fast on this facility because we have had full cooperation from local government officials," said Gary Breton, senior vice president of Amkor's North Asia North Asia or Northern Asia is a subregion of Asia. The most common definition of the term is;
The company has completed internal qualifications on both test and assembly processes, and is beginning customer qualification and ramping volume production of its packaged products. The first test programs begin this month with volume ramping in Q3. Production of Amkor's ChipArray(R) Ball Grid Array “BGA” redirects here. For other uses, see BGA (disambiguation). A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits. (CABGA CABGA Chip Array Bga ) and Low Profile Quad Flat Pack (LQFP See QFP. ) packages is scheduled to begin in Q3, ramping to volume production in Q4 2001. To accommodate the ramp-up, the facility will be staffed for 24-hour operations seven days a week. The plant's initial production is destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for the Chinese cellular telephone market. The facility is just the beginning of the company's expansion into China. "Interest in the facility is very high," Breton said. "Visits by potential customers have been continuous since construction began in early April. Most ask if we have room to expand." Amkor has reached a preliminary arrangement with local authorities to reserve additional land in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone sufficient for construction of up to two million square feet of production and test facilities. Additionally, the existing plant may be expanded by 70,000 sq ft in less than 90 days to meet customer requirements. "We have taken a number of steps to make this facility a model factory," Breton said. "In addition to installing the latest equipment, we are integrating Camstar System's InSite manufacturing tracking and execution system to ensure we have up to the minute information about our work in progress. It is a system that enables us to keep statistical process control of everything on the factory floor, including the history and genealogy of the products it tracks. We know at all times the location and control of customer products, from raw materials to finished product," Breton said. To ensure a ready supply of materials and spare parts Spare parts, also referred to as Service Parts is a term used to indicate extra parts available and in proximity to the mechanical item, such as a automobile, boat, engine, for which they might be used. Spare parts are also called “spares. , Amkor has plans to establish a warehouse and office complex near the factory for its vendors. Supplier representatives will have both private office facilities and secure storage for their goods within the warehouse, enabling them to replenish Amkor and other customers on very short notice. About Amkor Technology: Amkor Technology, Inc. is the world's largest provider of contract microelectronics manufacturing solutions. The company offers semiconductor companies and electronics OEMs a complete set of microelectronic design and manufacturing services, including deep sub-micron wafer fabrication Wafer Fabrication is a procedure composed of many repeated sequential processes to produce complete electrical or photonic circuits. Examples include production of radio frequency (RF) amplifiers, LEDs, optical computer components, and CPUs for computers. ; wafer probe, wafer mapping, characterization and reliability testing; IC packaging design and assembly; multi-chip module A Multi-Chip Module or MCM is a specialized electronic package where multiple integrated circuits (ICs), semiconductor dies or other modules are packaged in such a way as to facilitate their use as a single IC. design and assembly; and final testing. More information on Amkor is available from the company's SEC filings and on Amkor's web site: www.amkor.com. Forward-Looking Statement forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. : This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated results. Further information on risk factors that could affect the outcome of events set forth in these statements and that would affect the company's operating results and financial condition is detailed in the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. . |
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