Bruce Technologies sees increases in orders for refurbished semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1996--Bruce Technologies International, a leading supplier of advanced horizontal and vertical furnaces and process control software to semiconductor manufacturers, today announced that it has received orders totaling more than $5 million for refurbished and retrofit horizontal furnaces during the past four months.

Refurbished furnaces are older equipment that are completely updated and brought into a fab, while retrofit furnaces are fitted with upgraded accessories at their existing installation site.

"Bruce's refurbished and retrofit furnaces provide an alternative to semiconductor manufacturers whose capital equipment budgets have been reduced due to the recent softening in the industry," said Tim McCarthy, vice president of sales and marketing at Bruce. "The customers who are buying Bruce's refurbished equipment are seeking viable alternatives to purchasing new furnaces. Without the option of buying used equipment, many would need to make do with their existing, outdated equipment until the semiconductor market picks up. In some cases, retrofitting an existing furnace is more expedient than purchasing and installing a new furnace."

Bruce Technologies has more than two decades of experience in retrofitting all aspects of diffusion and VCVD furnace systems including boatloaders, heating elements, gas systems, vacuum components, DDC microcontrollers and APEXT process management software. "In some cases, we're retrofitting other brands of furnaces with Bruce controllers or APEX," explained McCarthy. "It's become a more significant part of our revenues, and we expect this type of business to continue at a similar pace over the coming year." He added that orders for Bruce's new furnaces--the APOGEE vertical furnace and BDF-40, BDF-41 and BDF-200 horizontal furnaces--remain relatively strong, and that Bruce continues to capture new customers and more market share each quarter.

Bruce Technologies International is a leading supplier of furnace technology and process control software to semiconductor manufacturers. The Company manufactures state-of-the-art horizontal and vertical diffusion/LPCVD furnaces which layer films for circuitry onto the surface of a silicon wafer during chip making, and also offers the most advanced process control software available. Founded in 1992, Bruce Technologies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kokusai Electric Ltd. of Japan. An engineering-driven company known for its technological achievements, Bruce pioneered the first integrated software systems for chip furnaces and was the first furnace maker to utilize CAD software in designing its equipment.

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APEX, APOGEE, BDF-40, BDF-41, BDF-200 and Bruce Technologies are trademarks of Bruce Technologies International, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Bruce Technologies International

Tim McCarthy, 508/670-5501

or

Schwartz Communications

Kerry Bard, ext. 241

Sean Kegelman, ext. 240

617/431-0770