March 14, 2001–Sunnyvale, California–Thomas West Inc. (TWI) today announced a major capital expansion and upgrade of its applications lab and manufacturing facilities as part of an ongoing investment to provide its customers with the most advanced CMP materials and technology for semiconductor manufacturing. The increased capacity and expansion is in direct response to increased customer demand for the company’s advanced CMP pads.

The expansion, to be completed by end of July 2001, includes a significant increase in manufacturing space. The new manufacturing facility will be fully integrated and designed to meet the demanding requirements of the semiconductor industry. TWI is also doubling the size of its applications cleanroom and adding CMP equipment and additional cleaning and metrology tools. The lab is to be completed by mid-May.

“The upgrade and expansion is part of our ongoing effort to develop and manufacture high quality new products in support of our customers’ manufacturing needs,” says Don Dietz, TWI vice president of operations. “The company’s growing sales and customer requirements demand increased manufacturing resources and R&D capability. With this expansion, the engineering team is equipped with the additional resources necessary to tackle the existing CMP planarization, cost of ownership, and uniformity issues. This expansion will enable the manufacturing team to sustain and improve product quality, while ensuring adequate capacity for the future.”

Thomas West relocated to the current 50,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing and business headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, in 1997 in order to keep up with demand as its CMP and HDD tape businesses grew. Even with this recent upgrade, sufficient space remains for future expansion of the manufacturing area.