Europe

01/01/1999

Europe

Back end equipment developer ESEC, Cham, Switzerland, is working with Siemens Microelectronics to develop a unified, open architecture for data collection and equipment control in packaging and test operations. Plans call for the Test, Assembly and Packaging Integrated Architecture (TAPIA) and Behavior-Based Equipment Model (BBEM) to be proposed for acceptance as SEMI standards. A pilot installation is slated for late this year at Siemens Components in Singapore.

BPS, an independent business unit of Swiss-based Balzers and Leybold that supplies thin film systems, has acquired Nextral SA, which will become part of the semiconductor division at BPS. The new company will be known as BPS-Nextral. The company expects to see a 30% increase in sales this year for its Nextral deposition and etch systems.

In ramping up of BGA packaging, Balzers Instruments, Liechtenstein, has received orders from major players and smaller packaging houses in Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, and the US for LFC100 inline and LFC150 batch chip carrier cleaners, worth over $1 million.