SANTA CLARA, USA: VLSI Research Inc., the leading public source for customer feedback on semiconductor equipment, has announced the winners of the 2008 10 BEST Awards for Test Equipment, Material Handling Equipment, and Assembly Equipment.

Customers rated Inovys Corporation, SUSS MicroTec, and Orthodyne Electronics as the #1 supplier in each of their respective categories. All three companies retained the #1 rank from 2007 while achieving overall ratings above 8.0. This demonstrated their commitment to excel in their markets.

The results are based on 4,565 surveys collected from chip makers that represent more than 95 percent of worldwide chip production. Each equipment supplier was rated on thirteen different categories which encompass both equipment performance as well as customer service. Listed below are the 10 BEST winners.

Test Equipment Suppliers
Within the Test Equipment Suppliers category, perennial 10 BEST contenders Inovys and Advantest were first and second, respectively. Inovys received the highest rating in seven of the thirteen categories, with its best rating in equipment uptime.

Although Advantest and LTX didn't achieve the best rating in any of the 13 categories, their overall ratings placed them second and third, respectively. Eagle Test Systems achieved the best scores in field engineering and spares support. Teradyne topped the product performance category, while FEI Co. was rated best in terms of usable throughput, quality of results, and technical leadership.

The highest average ratings were in quality of results, uptime, and usable throughput, which are components of the equipment performance criteria. Cost of ownership, software, and process support were areas that customers indicated a need for improvements. Build quality improved the most rising 0.34 average points to 7.60. Support after sales declined the greatest, from 7.48 to 7.34.

Material Handling Equipment Suppliers
Among the 10 BEST Material Handling Equipment Suppliers, SUSS MicroTec retained the highest overall rating. It also achieved the best score in seven of the 13 categories including cost of ownership, uptime, build quality, usable throughput, quality of results, product performance, and commitment.

Advantest garnered the top rating in five categories including software, process support, field engineering, spares support, and support after sales. Rasco rounded out the fourth spot, excelling in technical leadership.

Overall, seven companies received their highest rating in an equipment performance category. Quality of results was the highest praised category followed by uptime and build quality. Much like Test Equipment results, customers indicated that cost of ownership, software, and process support were areas with room for improvement. The most improved category was field engineering, with a 0.35 point increase. In contrast, usable throughput fell to 7.54 from 7.99 in the prior year.

Assembly Equipment Suppliers
Among the 10 BEST Assembly Equipment Suppliers, Orthodyne maintained the top spot with highlights in quality of results, product performance, and spares support. F&K Delvotec captured the second rank with the peak scores in process support, field engineering, and commitment. ACCRETECH-Tokyo Seimitsu shined in support after sales, capturing the third overall rating.

Asymtek topped their peers in cost of ownership (C.O.O.). Renesas Eastern Japan performed well in equipment performance and captured the highest ratings in software, build quality, and usable throughput. ICOS Vision obtained top rank in uptime and technical leadership.

In this very competitive market segment, the spread between first and tenth was only 0.41 points. Six suppliers captured the highest rating in at least one of the 13 categories.

The largest change was a decline of 0.38 average points in spares support. Process support showed the greatest improvement, with a 0.18 point increase.

This is the second announcement from VLSI Research in a series of three, listing the 10 BEST companies in each competitive segment.

The next release from VLSI Research will announce the two overall 10 BEST segments: Focused Suppliers and Large Suppliers of Chip Making Equipment.