SAFC Hitech adds state-of-the-art manufacturing cleanroom to Sheboygan facility
SAFC Hitech has underlined its commitment to the electronic materials markets with the opening of a US$9m (€5.8m) state-of-the-art cleanroom located on the company's Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin campus. The 5,000ft2 facility consists of an ISO Class 4 cleanroom, a distillation suite and office space.
The new facility, which became fully operational in April 2008, provides in-house trace metals analysis and the capability to clean and fill containers in a tightly controlled environment. The Sheboygan campus was selected as the site for the new cleanroom as it already provides large-scale manufacturing of products for the material science industry for SAFC, which supports the silicon semiconductor, compound semiconductor and performance materials markets.
The extension of the Sheboygan campus enables SAFC Hitech to produce, package and analyse its products in one location, completing the total supply chain, eliminating the need to use outside facilities and ensuring customers an uninterrupted supply of the highest quality materials required for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, the company says.
‘One of SAFC's primary business objectives is to continue to build the SAFC Hitech segment into a global leader in the supply of ultra-pure, high quality materials and technical solutions to the electronics industries,’ said SAFC president Frank Wicks. ‘As the demand for new and increasingly efficient materials continues to grow, so does the need to attain higher and higher levels of quality and dependability for our products.
‘This cleanroom investment complements existing manufacturing and extensive research and development sites at Sheboygan and will help us to achieve our objectives, essentially providing a 'one stop shop' for manufacturing, analysis and packaging.’
Looking ahead, Geoff Irvine, director, commercial development & marketing, SAFC Hitech, believes the Sheboygan facility can act as a blueprint for future expansion in overseas markets. ‘In 2007 we announced long-term plans for the expansion of our manufacturing footprint in both China and South Korea,’ Irvine said.
‘We expect to be able to use the construction and operational experiences gained from Sheboygan and apply it to future, similar developments serving other markets, thereby expanding our global presence using tried and tested methodologies.’