Jenoptik/s new CEO to provide faster starups

01/01/1999

Jenoptik`s new CEO to provide faster startups

Under leadership of new president and CEO Wolfgang Mayr, automation hardware and software developer Jenoptik Infab, Jena, Germany, plans to help customers achieve faster fab startups and better materials flow. "The hardest thing is to go from moving the equipment in to getting the first wafer out," he noted. It now takes about three months for a fab to progress from equipment move-in to qualification. Mayr said Jenoptik Infab needs to begin its work with chipmaking customers very early in the fab planning process, in order to be able to help with basic concepts like operation strategies and layout. "We have to give our people the mindset where they can talk to process engineers, support and maintenance people, and management."

Mayr also plans to increase software consciousness in Infab`s corporate culture by bringing hardware design and software together and showing the advantages of both to the customer. Infab also has a substantial OEM business with a number of equipment companies supplying 200- and 300-mm automation solutions. "We are in discussions now to develop solutions that are quite new, beyond hardware," said Mayr. One focus is how to handle work in process.

In another development, Jenoptik AG and metrology system supplier Therma-Wave, Fremont, CA, have agreed to end their legal battles in Germany and the US. The two had been disputing patent issues regarding Jenoptik`s TWIN line of semiconductor measurement devices. Under the agreement, Jenoptik will not sell the TWIN line in the US, but can sell the products in other countries. In addition, TWIN products made outside the US can be imported. - P.N.D.