Japanese semiconductor equipment maker, SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. opened the Takaoka Plant in Toyama Prefecture last August. Specifically, the Takaoka Plant forms part of a company-wide effort to bolster the production capacity of its Semiconductor Production Equipment (SPE) business.

Mainly, the Takaoka Plant produces chemical solution cabinets for single-wafer cleaning systems, which are the flagship products of the SPE business. The plant features two stories above ground and a total floor area of 7,952sq.m. The construction cost was approximately 5.5 billion yen (US$37.5 million). Specifically, the Takaoka Plant handles the whole process from assembly through inspection of cabinets. 

The SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd. takes charge of the SPE business.

Bolsters Production Capacity of SPE

Since last summer, SCREEN has been strengthening the production and maintenance services capabilities of the group’s three companies in Japan. They are the Hikone Plant in Shiga Prefecture, its main plant, and the Takaoka Plant. In this endeavor, SCREEN invested a total of 16 billion yen (US$109 million) to expand the production capacity of SPE. Through the injections, SCREEN plans to bolster the entire company’s SPE production capacity by about 20 percent from Jan. 2023, when S³-4 state-of-the-art single-wafer cleaning system started operating at the Hikone Plant. 

Aside from the Takaoka Plant, which started operations on Aug. 23, SCREEN is constructing a new factory, S³-5. Specifically, this new plant will produce leading-edge single-wafer cleaning systems at the Hikone Plant. SCREEN infuses a total of approximately 8 billion yen (US$54.6 million) to build S³-5, which features three stories above ground and a total floor area of 13,534sq.m. The new factory will start operations in Jan. 2024.  

Additionally, SCREEN is expanding and improving the Koriyama Factory and the Iwaki Factory of SCREEN SPE Quartz Co., Ltd. in Fukushima Prefecture. The company is investing about 1.5 billion yen (US$10.2 million) and about 500 million yen (US$3.41 million) in the factories, respectively. Specifically, SCREEN SPE Quartz Co. manufactures key components of SPE and processing baths (quartz tanks) for semiconductor cleaning equipment. The Koriyama Factory is set for completion in Sept. 2023, and the Iwaki Factory in Oct. 2023. Both factories are in Fukushima Prefecture. 

Moreover, SCREEN also invested about 500 million yen (US$3.41 million) to construct a new building of SCREEN SPE Service Co., Ltd. Mainly, SCREEN SPE provides maintenance services for SPE. The new building in Kumamoto Prefecture was completed in Oct. 2022, expanding the SPE maintenance service system in the Kumamoto area. Since June, the new building has been used as a training center.