Aquest delivers higher levels fab productivity

SUNNYVALE, USA: Aquest Systems, a developer of the next generation of Automated Material Handling Systems (AMHS) for the global semiconductor industry, announced the receipt of multiple orders from new customers for its FabEX AMHS solutions.

The customers include a leading semiconductor foundry and a leading DRAM memory producer — expanding Aquest’s customer base in Taiwan and marking its first system orders in Korea. These latest wins demonstrate the growing confidence among today’s foundries and chipmakers that Aquest can deliver the higher levels of fab productivity and profitability they need in today’s competitive market.

These new orders follow on the heels of Aquest’s introduction of its No-Wait-ProductivitySM Improvement (NPI) solution—now in volume production and used at Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation’s (PSC) twin memory fabs, P1 and P2.

Demonstrated at PSC, a key element of NPI is that it does not require a fab to slow down or stop production for installation. In fact, Aquest’s patented FabEX Transporter helps unburden the automation solutions previously installed in today’s IC fabs without software or mechanical modifications. Interfacing directly with the existing stockers and overhead transport (OHT) vehicles, the FabEX Transporter allows chipmakers to immediately speed cycle time, improve equipment utilization and increase production capacity.

The new orders from Taiwan and Korea will integrate Aquest’s FabEX Transporter with an already installed AMHS system from Japan’s Asyst-Shinko, a subsidiary of Asyst Technologies and from Daifuku. Both projects mark the start of a phased, multi-million-dollar plan by each of the customers to significantly improve the productivity of their existing fabs, utilizing the unique capability of Aquest’s FabEX Transporter to upgrade their current AMHS solutions.