October 6, 2004 – The Semiconductor Company of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. has joined the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) effective Oct. 1, becoming the newest member of a global alliance of semiconductor companies focused exclusively on manufacturing effectiveness, officials of SEMATECH announced today.

ISMI, a subsidiary of SEMATECH, was formed earlier this year as a new consortium dedicated to helping semiconductor manufacturers improve factory productivity and reduce cost per wafer, and ultimately cost per die. Other ISMI members include AMD, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Infineon, Intel, Freescale, Philips, Texas Instruments and TSMC.

“Shrinking device features at advanced technology nodes are making it more difficult to maintain yield and productivity, and e-manufacturing is indispensable in solving this problem,” said Dr. Michihiro Inoue, director of Matsushita’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology Center. “Matsushita anticipates that ISMI membership will give us productivity solutions for future challenges in our manufacturing fabs, allowing us to achieve best-in-class levels of productivity.”

ISMI’s core programs include fab productivity, equipment productivity, metrology, and environment/safety/health. The consortium conducts projects within those program areas, guided in the short term by installed base industry needs, and in the longer term by critical strategic manufacturing requirements defined by consortium members.