According to Chinese media accounts, work on Chinese chipmaker TSMC’s fresh silicon shop in Kumamoto on the Japanese island of Kyushu is moving along quickly and might even be ahead of schedule. This development is in stark contrast to TSMC’s shop task, which is about a month behind schedule and is located in the US state of Arizona.
Questions about the disparity between US coverage and South Asian priorities are raised by the difference, which is based on the investment structure, organizational culture, and social expectations. & nbsp,
The world’s top chipmaker, TSMC, has received strong support from both Chinese and US government officials. In Phoenix, Arizona, in December 2022, President Joe Biden declared,” American manufacturing is back, folks ,” while standing in front of an American flag and a banner that read” A Future Made in America.” He praised TSMC and the part it is playing in reviving the semiconductor industry in America in proper notes.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, posted the following message in Japanese on X ( Twitter ) at the start of October 2023:
” Mark Liu, chairman of Taiwan’s TSMC, and I had a gathering. An important national initiative aimed at revitalizing Japan’s semiconductor industry is the construction of a factory in Kumamoto by JASM ] Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing. This collaboration between TSMC, Sony, and Denso. In Kumamoto, cooperation is developing as Chinese manufacturers of materials and equipment and other related businesses announce novel investments one after another. We will keep working together and cooperating, including in upcoming advances.
Since April 2022, the second shop of TSMC in Kumamoto has been operating without a hitch. The project has been managed by lots of TSMC technicians who have been sent from Taiwan, and hundreds more will be sent by the company’s suppliers, according to the Asian media. Additionally, more than 300 Chinese personnel have been trained by TSMC so far in Taiwan. & nbsp,
Equipment assembly in Kumamoto is expected to start this month and be finished by the following spring. Production is expected to begin before the date of 2024 expires.
However, what TSMC refers to as a shortage of skilled workers has slowed progress in the US. Bureaucratic red tape and regional labor organizations that oppose the use of imported workers have exacerbated this lack. & nbsp,
Additionally, the labor unions have expressed dissatisfaction with inadequate business, lax safety standards, and absurd work schedules. According to American internet, non-union immigrants and out-of-state employees are frequently employed. & nbsp,
The loud assistance for union labor from the Biden administration may be one cause of the issue. If you don’t mind my telling, union workers are the best in the world, according to Biden, who stated in December of last year. They are the best professionals in the entire world.
Chinese, South Koreans, Japanese, and Europeans all have the right to disagree. Whatever the motives, TSMC has moved Arizona’s industrial production from 2024 to 2025.
In the meantime, Chinese and foreign manufacturers of technology are growing their existence in Kumamoto in response to increased demand brought on by the TSMC joint venture. On Japan’s” Silicon Island” and” Kyushu ,” which is already a significant center of semiconductor production, TSMC is causing an unprecedented wave of growth.
The largest manufacturer of transistor equipment in Japan, Tokyo Electron, is constructing a new facility in Kumamoto for the creation and development of material coaters and developers. It will double the length of its activities in Kyushu and be finished by the end of 2024. The largest coater / developer market worldwide is dominated by Tokyo Electron.
After Applied Materials of the US, Ebara is the second-largest manufacturer of chemical mechanical planarization ( CMP ) equipment. It has started building a new factory in Kumamoto that will roughly double its CMP production capacity. It should also go online by the end of 2024 and be finished with new R & amp, D facilities in Fujisawa, close to Tokyo. & nbsp,
Disco, the nation’s top manufacturer of silicon chip dicing, milling, and polishing machinery, as well as relevant consumables, has formally opened its Mid-Process Research Center in Kumamoto. Consumers and other visitors were able to visit the facility in July after it had been operating under Covid-related health restrictions since December 2021.
The goal of this facility is to make the process of fabricating numerous semiconductor devices on silicon or other types of wafers more efficient than the” back-end” process, which Disco specializes in, of dicing( wafer singulation through cutting, separating individual die for packaging in chips ). By preventing the silicon from deteriorating, yields are kept high. & nbsp,
The mid-process R & amp, D center also enables the verification of unmanned operations by integrating a number of processes with an automated transfer robot. These procedures include pick-up, evaluation, and die assessment, as well as thinning the chip with a grinders and singulation using knife dicing and laser saws.
In June, Screen Holdings, the nation’s top manufacturer of semiconductor cleaning supplies, opened a new training facility at its Kumamoto location. & nbsp,
The top US manufacturer of polishing equipment and semiconductor lithography systems, ASML, both intend to increase their support and service offerings in Kumamoto. There are also offices for Applied Materials, the largest manufacturer of semiconductor production equipment in the world, and KLA, a market leader in transistor assessment equipment. & nbsp,
Two significant Japanese businesses that are both shareholders and the biggest potential customers of the enterprise are Sony and Denso( which is affiliated with Toyota ), with which TSMC is collaborating in Kumamoto. In a comparable business and social environment, without antagonistic management-union relations, it will be expanding its IC factory services for both of them not far from Taiwan. TSMC is the sole owner of its innovative business in Arizona. & nbsp,
Strong local partners who are both investors and customers will also be working with TSMC in Dresden, Germany, where the company intends to launch a joint venture with Bosch, Infineon, and NXP called & nbsp, European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It appears likely that the Germany-based job, similar to the one in Japan, will proceed more efficiently than the Arizona project that was delayed.
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