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Sematech Awards SEZ's Efforts in 300-mm Automation and Process Control Management Initiative
VILLACH, Austria, and ZURICH, Switzerland?Oct. 7, 2003?The SEZ Group (SWX Swiss Exchange: SEZN), a key provider of single-wafer cleaning technology for the semiconductor industry, today announced that International SEMATECH (ISMT, Austin, Texas) has bestowed the company with two awards in recognition of its participation in the consortium's 300-mm equipment integration and automation standards conformance testing project. SEZ is the leading company within the single wafer wet clean space to participate in the ISMT project.
According to Steven Fulton, project manager I&A Software Testing, Manufacturing Productivity Division of International SEMATECH, one of the consortium's highest priorities is helping its member companies and the industry speed the transition to a complete automation and process control management infrastructure within their 300-mm fabs. "The participants in our conformance testing project have really stepped up to the challenge, helping us to assess the validity of the initiative and identify the needs that must be met for this transition to occur. On behalf of our member companies, ISMT is pleased to present these awards to SEZ for their efforts toward these stringent requirements."
Commenting on the awards, Kurt Lackenbucher, chief marketing officer for SEZ, noted, "Receipt of these two awards emphasizes SEZ's ongoing investment in not just enhancing our technology hardware, but also improving upon the software capabilities of our tools. In fact, we're continuously committed to helping improve the successful migration of e-diagnostics and advanced process control capabilities within our tools. This endeavor is designed to ultimately allow our systems to communicate more effectively and efficiently, as well as to provide the valuable self-management and maintenance information that will allow 300-mm fabs to run at benchmark levels."
SEZ has been working closely with SEMATECH since 1997 to address several challenges associated with next-generation operating systems and software controls for 300-mm applications. Key to this collaborative effort, the consortium leveraged SEZ's 323 and 4300 single-wafer 300-mm polymer removal systems as the platforms for testing 300-mm software systems and integration?awarding the company for each system's respective performance as well as for the company's overall support and commitment in this process.
Today's announcement follows closely on the heels of additional accolades SEZ has received over the past few months. The most recent of these is a World Class Supplier Spotlight Award from Advanced Micro Devices?for the second year running. The award recognized SEZ for its superior customer service and commitment, as well as its state-of-the-art single-wafer cleaning technology. Prior to that, the company announced that it was ranked among VLSI Research Inc.'s 10 BEST Suppliers for 2003 in honor of its exemplary customer satisfaction.
About SEZ Group
SEZ Group is the leading provider of single-wafer, wet-clean processing solutions for the global semiconductor industry, with an installed base of over 750 tools. The company maintains operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Japan, and North America. SEZ Holding AG is traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange under the symbol SEZN. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at www.sez.com
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