Elcoteq Network Corp, the largest electronics manufacturing services provider in Europe , will initiate construction of a new $18.6-million plant in St. Petersburg , Russia, in the last quarter of 2004. The 14,700-sf facility will employ 1,500 workers when it becomes operational in fall 2005. Elcoteq’s U.S. headquarters is located in Irving , Texas .
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has completed the new Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML ) in Gaithersburg , Md. The $235-million facility accommodates research in nanotechnology, semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing. Completed in December 2003 and officially opened in June 2004, the AML features five separate wings with stringent environmental controls on particulate matter, temperature, humidity, vibration and electromagnetic interferences. The design includes:
Electron microscope maker FEI Corp. has opened its enhanced Eindhoven , Netherlands, campus, featuring the “NanoPort," a state-of-the-art product and applications center. Providing space for collaborative R&D projects, such as the European Union’s Interaction Proteome Project, the NanoPort accommodates scientists working in the disciplines of biotechnology, materials science, structural biology, proteomics, pathology, and semiconductors and data storage. The facility houses a range of transmission and scanning electron microscopes, as well as ion beam and dual-beam systems.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is planning to construct a $500-million manufacturing center in Shenzhen , China. Construction on the plant is slated to begin in late 2004. Production of 3.5” disk drives will begin at the new facility in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies has awarded a facilities management contract for all of its properties to Glendale-based Johnson Controls. The five-year contract includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, operations and maintenance, project management, building fabric maintenance and general services for Agilent’s 17 million sf of owned and leased properties in thirty countries. Agilent manufactures scientific and analysis equipment.
Kobe Minolta Holdings , a Japanese technology company, is planning to construct a $73-million plant in Kobe, Japan. The facility will manufacture liquid crystal display film, boosting capacity by half to 90 million square meters annually. Construction will begin in June 2004, with the factory becoming operational in fall of that year.
Santa Clara-based Intel is engaged in a $2-billion conversion of Fab 12, its Chandler, Ariz., plant, from the production of 200mm wafers to 300mm wafers. Slated for completion in late 2005, the project includes the modification of the interior of the cleanroom to house the increased size of the 300mm production equipment. As the first entire conversion of an existing 200mm fab to a 300mm fab, the project provides space to double capacity. The larger wafers require 40 percent less energy and water for each chip produced, diminishing the overall use of resources.
Plexus Corp. has purchased a 164,000-sf factory in Penang, Malaysia as part of a $12 million project to expand its operations there. The plant will nearly double Plexus’s current Asian manufacturing capacity, which it expects to outgrow by early fiscal 2005. Plexus, based in Neenah, Wisc., is a contract manufacturer of electronics.
M+W Zander U.S. Operations is completing the $3.5-million office and cleanroom construction training center in 60,000 sf of Building 44 at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, N.Y. A joint venture of Albany NanoTech, Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership, and M+W Zander, the center will train members of the Pipe Fitters Union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and sheet metal workers to construct and maintain cleanroom facilities and install precision machinery.
The State of Texas and International Sematech are launching the Advanced Materials Research Center (AMRC) with the University of Texas and other Texas universities. Located in Austin, the semiconductor research consortium will accelerate the commercialization of critical technology research. Funding in the amount of $40 million will be provided by the newly formed Texas Enterprise Fund; the remaining $160 million will be funded from various sources over the next four years.
High-tech instrumentation manufacturer Ruprecht & Patashnick is consolidating three Albany-area locations with a move to 50,000 sf in East Greenbush, N.Y. The facility will accommodate growth for the company’s commercial manufacturing and R&D operations.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp. opened its $13.7 million Information Technology Innovation Center in Folsom, Calif. in February 2004. The goal of the 5,000-sf showroom is to boost market demand and stimulate research and development innovation. The center features a large reception area and meeting space, a digital home display, a digital office display, a mobility bar, a rear teleconferencing room, and a disruptive technology lab.
Chip equipment maker Credence Systems Corp. has relocated its headquarters from Fremont to Milpitas, Calif. The new facility will increase space for R&D operations as well as housing manufacturing, engineering, marketing, sales, and administrative functions. Credence will consolidate its 300 Northern California employees at the new headquarters.
Palo Alto-based Hewlett Packard will invest $1 billion in an existing Singapore factory over the next five years to expand and upgrade its facilities, supporting a new manufacturing line producing top-end servers and printers including the “superdome server”.
Advanced Micro Devices, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is constructing a $2.4 billion 300mm chip manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany. Volume production is expected to begin at the new facility in 2006.
