March 17, 2008 – Intel has given a nod to four dozen of its key suppliers from its roster of thousands of supply-chain partners, ranging from capital equipment manufacturers to materials, components, and service providers, as the 2007 winners of its awards for Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) and Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI).

To earn Intel’s top award, its supplier continuous quality improvement (SCQI) award (now in its 21st year), 13 honorees scored at least 95% on a list of performance and ability goals, including cost, quality, availability, delivery, technology, and responsiveness, over the past year. Another 35 suppliers scored better than 80% to earn Intel’s 2007 preferred quality supplier (PQS) recognition.

In a statement, Craig Brown, VP of Intel’s technology and manufacturing group and director of materials, pointed out that many of these recognized suppliers were key to the chipmaker’s ramp of its 45nm manufacturing process, as well as assembly and test technologies. “These recipients not only have demonstrated outstanding excellence in the highest quality standards, but also their commitment to continuous improvement in affordability, innovation and excellence,” he stated.

Intel launched the SCQI program in 1987 to improve the systems and output of key suppliers, in an effort to minimize the amount of time and money spent inspecting incoming material, goods, and services purchased. The company honored a record 54 suppliers in 2006, 38 in 2005, 43 in 2004, and 45 companies in 2003.

The 2007 SCQI winners are:

– * Asymtek, a Nordson company (automated dispensing systems)
– * Daewon Semiconductor Packaging Industrial Co. (injection molded trays, thermoformed transport media)
– * Disco Corp. (precision singulation, wafer saws, polishers, and grinding equipment)
– * Grohmann Engineering (custom semiconductor placement and material handling systems equipment)
– * Hitachi High-Technologies Corp. (etch, metrology, nanotech and defect inspection tools)
– Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. (diffusion furnaces)
– ICOS Vision Systems NV (automated visual inspection equipment)
– Kelly Services Inc. (staffing services)
– * Moses Lake Industries/TAMA Chemicals (ultrahigh-purity process and performance chemicals)
– * Nippon Mining & Metals Co. Ltd. (sputtering targets for physical vapor deposition applications)
– * Senju Metal Industry Co. Ltd. (soldering materials)
– * SUMCO Corp. (200mm and 300mm polished and epitaxial silicon wafers)
– Tokyo Electron Ltd. (semiconductor production equipment)

(* also a 2006 winner)

Winners of the 2007 PQS award include:

– * AceCo Precision Manufacturing (high quality, low cost equipment spares and repairs)
– Asyst Technologies Inc. (automated material handling systems)
– * Cabot Microelectronics Corp. (CMP polish slurries for flash and logic technologies)
– * Daifuku Co. Ltd. (automated material handling systems)
– * Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (wet etch and single wafer cleans equipment)
– * DEK International (printing machines)
– * Delta Design Inc. (test handlers and burn-in equipment)
– * Dow Corning Corp. (electronics adhesives)
– * Enplas Semiconductor Peripheral Corp. (burn-in sockets)
– Harbor Electronics (turnkey test interface units)
– Integrated Device Technology Inc. (PC, server, notebook clocking technology)
– Indium Corp. (solder thermal interface materials)
– JSR Corp. (advanced photoresists, packaging materials, CMP consumables)
– * KES Systems & Service Pte Ltd. (burn-in board, test interface units and tooling maintenance)
– Linde Electronics (electronic gases, materials management)
– Lotes (connectors, sockets)
– * Munters Corp. (VOC abatement equipment)
– Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (ceramic capacitors, ferrites, inductors, RF modules, dielectric filters)
– * Nichicon Corp. (aluminum electrolytic and aluminum polymer capacitors)
– * Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co. Ltd. (NDK) (quartz crystal resonators)
– Nikon Corp. (lithography scanners)
– * Nippon Chemi-Con Corp. (aluminum electrolytic and polymer electrolytic capacitors)
– * NuFlare Technology Inc. (photomask writer systems and services)
– Richtek Technology Corp. (power management technology)
– Rofin-Baasel (laser mark equipment)
– * Rosendin Electric (electrical construction services)
– * Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. (uniformed guarding services)
– * Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd. (semiconductor assembly and test services)
– * STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (assembly of flash, chipset and wireless packages)
– * Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (processed wafers)
– * Tektronix Inc. (test and measurement equipment)
– * The Hibbert Group (marketing fulfillment services)
– Tokyo Electron Ltd. (semiconductor production equipment)
– * Tyco Electronics (interconnects, microprocessor sockets and passive components)
– Veolia Environmental Services (hazardous waste transportation and disposal)