Amkor Places $26 Million ATE Order with Credence Systems Fremont, Calif.-Amkor Technology, Phoenix, has placed an order valued at $26 million for 25 new testers from Credence Systems. Credence said the order consists of machines from its Quartet, SC, Kalos, RFx and ASL 2000 series test systems. The companies said they are also jointly developing a new strip test, which is now in production employing the ASL 1000 tester and an MCT Tapestry test handler. This "end-of-line" process uses standard leadframe strips to integrate massive parallel assembly and test. With this approach, Amkor said it has been able to reduce capital costs, floor space and index time significantly, while improving quality and cycle time. [amkor.com] Gel-Pak Acquires Silicon Packaging Technology Inc.
With the acquisition, SPT, a maker of prototype plastic packages for ICs, has been renamed Quik-Pak and is now a division of the Sunnyvale-based firm. Gel-Pak bought all the assets and certain liabilities of SPT in a cash and equity deal for an undisclosed sum. [gelpak.com] Watson Joins ASAT in Test Sales Fremont, Calif.-Robert Watson has joined ASAT as test sales manager at the company's Auburn, Mass. office. He served, most recently, as technical sales manager for Singapore Technologies Assembly Test services in Waltham, Mass. [asat.com] Universal Instruments Expands Flip-Chip Program Binghamton, N.Y.-Universal Instruments is expanding its "Flip-Chip Workshop" program, with a new round of presentations scheduled to begin this fall. The workshop is a comprehensive course on flip-chip processes and the operation of Universal's GSMxs and GSMx platforms. Universal says the course has already reached nearly 300 people at 135 companies in nine countries since it was inaugurated in November 1999. For program information contact universal@uic.com. In Memorium - Tom Reynolds
For several years earlier, Mr. Reynolds was an executive with the Alphatec Group, the predecessor organization to the current Alphatec. In 1984, he co-founded Sierra Semiconductor Corp. He was born in Woodward, Okla. After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, in 1960 with a degree in electrical engineering, he joined Texas Instruments. From 1967- 81, Mr. Reynolds was employed by National Semiconductor. Survivors include his widow, Maryann and three grown children. The family prefers donations in his memory to the American Cancer Society or to a local hospice project. K&S Selects Taiwan for New Bonding Wire Plant Willow Grove, Pa.-The American Fine Wire (AFW) business unit of Kulicke & Soffa Industries has selected Haohsiung, Taiwan, as the site for a 2,880 square meter bonding wire facility. The new plant will initially employ 30 production, engineering, technical and administrative personnel, increasing that number to 60 by mid-2001. According to Kim Hock Chan, who will become general manager of the new factory, qualification of customer orders began in October with production scheduled to begin in December. The plant will be Taiwan's first semiconductor wire manufacturing facility. [kns.com] Jerry Kirby Promoted at NSEB Santa Clara, Calif.-Jerry Kirby, formerly engineering and sales manager for NS Electronics Bangkok (NSEB) has been promoted to director of sales and marketing for the U.S., reporting to the office of the president. Kirby was formerly a vice president at Catalyst Semiconductor and has held engineering posts at AMI and Intel. [nseb.com] Muranaga Joins Yamaichi San Jose-Alfred Muranaga has joined Yamaichi Electronics USA as vice president of sales and marketing, reporting to Shinichiro Koga, president and CEO. Muranaga was most recently western regional sales manager at Harting Inc. of North America. [yeu.com] August Technology Honored by "Fast 50" Bloomington, Minn.-For the third consecutive year, August Technology has been named one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Minnesota. August ranked 22. [augusttech.com] Amkor, Toshiba Plan Japanese Joint Venture; Duo Will Establish Assembly and Test Facility Chandler, Ariz.-Amkor Technology Inc. plans to establish a joint venture assembly and test facility with Toshiba Corp. at the Japanese firm's Iwate Toshiba Electronics Co. in Kitakami, Japan. Amkor will hold 60 percent of the joint venture and manage its operations.
The joint venture will be formed from Iwate Toshiba's assembly and test facilities and will include manufacturing operations at two independent subcontract assembly houses. The unnamed subcontractors will operate with equipment consigned to them by the joint venture. Amkor will market the joint venture's services to all chipmakers who need local assembly and test in Japan. "This is a landmark move for Amkor and for the contract packaging industry," said John Boruch, Amkor's president and CEO. Amkor places Japan's annual IC assembly and test outsourcing needs at $7.5 billion. Iwate Toshiba's wafer fab will be the facility's first customer when the joint venture begins, expected this quarter. Sales are expected to exceed more than $300 million annually. After three years, Amkor says it will buy out Toshiba's interest for a predetermined, but undisclosed amount. Toshiba ranked second in Japan and third in the world last year in semiconductor revenues, according to a study by IC Insights, an industry forecaster. [amkor.com] Motorola Moves Largest RF Assembly Plant Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-Motorola recently moved its largest volume assembly and test facility for high power RF products from Seremban to Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1973, the KL facility, which consists of more than 750,000 square feet on some 20 acres, currently produces some of Motorola's leading edge semiconductor products. The industry's first high power plastic transistor packages are among the RF products made at the facility. With more than 1,200 pieces of manufacturing equipment, six manufacturing platforms and more than 1,500 engineering and manufacturing employees dedicated to RF products, KL represents one of the largest RF power manufacturing operations in the world. Motorola received QS 9000 certification for the KL facility in July 1998. [motorola.com]
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