CSR |
What's the history behind the formation of ESEC? |
KN |
I worked for almost 10 years in a semiconductor lab. During that time I learned about all kinds of equipment - most of which came from the U.S., where the transistor was invented. The exchange rate of dollars to Swiss francs was about 1:4 or greater, so the imported equipment was very expensive. After working in the lab, I decided that semiconductor equipment might be a good business if we could produce it for the European market.
Prior to founding ESEC, I worked for kulicke & Soffa as a consulting engineer, selling U.S.-made equipment in Europe, during which time I learned about the needs of the industry. At one point, K&S decided to return its European headquarters to Germany from Zug, Switzerland. I was supposed to run the headquarters from Zug. When K&S moved back to Germany, myself and a K&S colleague decided to start our own company.
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CSR |
Did you expect ESEC to become one of the dominant assembly equipment companies? |
KN |
No, we really didn't think we would become a $500 million company. We just thought we would serve the industry with equipment that was needed - that was the idea and that's what we did, and what we still do. As an equipment supplier, we have a commitment to the market and to our customers. The demands on us by the market required that we become big, so we adapted to the market's requirements. |
CSR |
What's the main difference between IC assembly equipment today and the equipment when you began ESEC? |
KN |
The main difference is that we didn't have microprocessors; we just had some TTL IC transistors in the machines. The equipment was mainly electromechanical then, while today the machines are mostly software-driven with powerul computers onboard, which makes it much more adaptable to what the customers need. |
CSR |
ESEC acquired several companies in the recent past, including Zevatech. Are you going to be acquiring more? |
KN |
We have no plans to acquire more companies. However, it depends on the market. If it makes sense for us to acquire a company to adapt ourselves to the market, we might look for another acquisition. But there's absolutely no plan to acquire another company as of this moment. |
CSR |
A Swiss die attach competitor, Alphasem AG, was acquired recently by Universal Instruments. Is ESEC for sale? |
KN |
The acquisition of Alphasem, as I see it, had mainly to do with Universal Instruments seeing a need to move more directly into semiconductor technology like die handling and die pickup-so I understand the acquisition. For Alphasem, being in a niche market of die bonders, it was an acquisition that makes sense for them. ESEC, however, has a nice product
portfolio with many different products which fit well in the marketplace. |
CSR |
What is your philosophy for running a successful company? |
KN |
It's still the same as it was when we started ESEC. We began with the idea of serving the semiconductor market in Europe. We've, of course, extended this concept to what is now very much a global market, and we're a global
player. Our basic philosophy, though, is still to serve the market wherever we see a need for assembly equipment that can produce packages at high volume. |
CSR |
Over the past year or so, we've seen a very severe industry downturn. How did that affect ESEC? |
KN |
We laid off close to 30% of our workforce. We employed about 1,300 people, so about 400 were dismissed. Now the picture has completely changed. We have good bookings again and we need more labor right now. Even the Asian market is returning-but it is not operating the same way it did before. We're seeing changes in ownership in assembly factories. |
CSR |
Does the complexity of modern IC packages surprise you? |
KN |
It doesn't really surprise me because these changes have been expected, and we have seen increasing complexity over the past 30 years. We moved from through-hole devices at 2.54 mm pitch to a much finer pitch with surface mount. We see leadless devices-like bumped devices-with very small pitch and high leadcounts up to 1,500; we see wafer-level packaging. Although there are many new technologies, we think that the bulk of the volume will still be handled by die and wirebonding technologies. I do not see wirebonding technology disappearing within the next 10 years. |
CSR |
Why are you stepping down as president and CEO? |
KN |
I am stepping down on June 1 to hand the leadership over to a younger CEO. I've had 31 years of leading the company and now it's about time to hand it over to a younger person. I will maintain the chairmanship. The new CEO, Felix Bagdasarjanz, has an Armenian name, but he was born in Switzerland, educated in Switzerland, and holds a Ph.D. from a Swiss University. |
CSR |
When will the industry boom again? |
KN |
When will that happen again? It's very difficult to say. I wish I could see it clearly, but I do believe we will see tremendous growth. There are different signs appearing that indicate we will have two, three or four years of growth in front of us. It's impossible to say, however, when the boom of '95 will repeat. |
CSR |
Your headquarters are in Cham, Switzerland, far from Silicon Valley. Is that good or bad for a supplier to semiconductor companies? |
KN |
I look at the semiconductor business as a global one. Wherever we can find the best resources for a specific task, we will choose that area. I still think Switzerland has excellent resources for producing high-precision machinery. We have to have a base where the technology is, and that's why we are here. With today's communications, I don't see any problem acting locally and being global. |
CSR |
The Japanese market is known to be difficult for foreign companies. How is ESEC doing there-Japan's recession aside? |
KN |
I must say that the interest by the Japanese market for our products has increased very much, mainly last year, especially for our basic technologies like die and wire- bonding. We have developed excellent basic process technologies in those areas and that's exactly what the Japanese market is looking for.
Certainly, it's been relatively closed to non-Japanese companies in the past, and remains so. However, the Japanese have recognized, being in this closed market, that they need to be more open, that they need the competitive edge which technologies from outside can offer. |
CSR |
Does that speed at which people seem to develop new packages get ahead of the development of machinery to assemble them? |
KN |
From what I've observed, the package developments which have a real chance in the market are based on existing technologies. The chances that most new packages will go into volume production is quite low, from what we've seen in the past. Over the past 35 years, I've seen many new package technologies, and almost all have disappeared except those that rely on die attach and wirebonding. Today the new technologies, like flip chip, are not new-they've been done for 25 or 30 years. Packages like CSPs, however, are just at the beginning of their life cycle.
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