Asyst Receives Multiple Orders From OEMS for Plus Portal; Orders Signal Strong Industry Interest in Outsourcing Strategy for Front-End Technology.FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999-- Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM:ASYT), a leading supplier of advanced manufacturing solutions for the semiconductor industry, today announced that it has received multiple new orders for its recently introduced Plus(TM) Portal. Valued at more than $1.5 million, the orders were received from four leading semiconductor equipment manufacturers and will be used in products for etch To create a design in a material by digging out the material. The circuit designs on printed circuit boards and chips are etched by acid. See chip and printed circuit board. , inspection, metrology metrology Science of measurement. Measuring a quantity means establishing its ratio to another fixed quantity of the same kind, known as the unit of that kind of quantity. and test applications. Since the Plus Portal was introduced in June, Asyst has received orders in excess of $2 million from multiple original equipment manufacturer (OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and ) customers. These early orders indicate a strong interest from OEMs in outsourcing (1) Contracting with outside consultants, software houses or service bureaus to perform systems analysis, programming and datacenter operations. Contrast with insourcing. See netsourcing, ASP, SSP and facilities management. front-end portal technology. The Plus Portal acts as a doorway by which fabs can manage the transactions involved in safely moving wafers wafers compressed roughage in flat plates useful for feeding to animals in transit. between the process tool and the factory floor. It incorporates Asyst's value assurance technologies, including multiple loadport (150 mm through 300 mm available), robotic and pre-aligner, auto ID, environmental control and software systems. In addition to offering a new level of connectivity between the process tool and factory floor, the Plus Portal represents a step forward in addressing chipmakers' vision of a standard front-end interface throughout the fab floor. Plus Portal also represents a move into non-SMIF fabs and back-end processing, further increasing Asyst's market opportunity. "The strong industry interest in portal technology demonstrates the clear need for a viable equipment front-end solution," said Dennis Riccio, Asyst's senior vice president of global customer operations. "Asyst's portal technology, like the rest of our value assurance portfolio, secures the integrity of integrated circuit integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a nonhermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from it for (IC) makers' wafers throughout the manufacturing cycle. By outsourcing their portal requirements, OEMs are able to concentrate on their process technology core competencies A core competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions specified by Hamel and Prahalad (1990):
Asyst's Plus Portal technology ensures that automation, robotics robotics, science and technology of general purpose, programmable machine systems. Contrary to the popular fiction image of robots as ambulatory machines of human appearance capable of performing almost any task, most robotic systems are anchored to fixed positions , software and isolation capabilities are seamlessly integrated to meet the unique requirements of today's most advanced wafer process and metrology systems. This is achieved through a series of integrated building blocks that can be custom configured con·fig·ure tr.v. con·fig·ured, con·fig·ur·ing, con·fig·ures To design, arrange, set up, or shape with a view to specific applications or uses: to meet the needs of each OEM and fab customer. The complete Plus Portal system portal system: see circulatory system. fully integrates its critical functions into a turnkey material handling and factory automation interface for the full range of wafer process and metrology tools. In tailoring Plus Portals to meet the stringent requirements of today's fabs, Asyst works in close partnership with both the OEM and IC makers to develop an optimized fab/process interface that complies with all SEMI and I300I standards and guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. . Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q and annual report to shareholders. About Asyst: Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of advanced technologies designed to protect and enhance customers' valued assets throughout all phases of the manufacturing process. The company's comprehensive solutions set includes 200 and 300 mm product families that deliver state-of-the-art isolation, material management, robotics and software needed to ensure seamless factory automation in the most advanced fabs worldwide. Leveraging its value assurance technologies, Asyst offers OEMs the ability to speed time to market and reduce development costs, and chipmakers the ability to achieve greater fab profitability and productivity. Asyst's homepage is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.asyst.com |
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