Fabless to Fab
MEMS design and development company IntelliSense today announced that it has purchased the bulk of its semiconductor process equipment for its new fab in Nanjing, China, from refurbished equipment supplier ClassOne Equipment. The alliance went so well that the two companies have formed a strategic partnership to continue the relationship.
For almost 20 years IntelliSense has provided MEMS design software, IP and consulting services. Earlier this year, IntelliSense entered into an agreement to purchase late vintage MEMS fab equipment from ClassOne to equip a new facility just completed in Nanjing, China. The equipment purchased included tools such as EVG mask aligners, EVG wafer bonders, EVG Coat Tracks, Wet Benches, KLA-Tencor wafer inspection systems, and other standard wafer fabrication and metrology equipment. The fabrication line will enable IntelliSense to manufacture in demand MEMS products to meet client requirements. The IntelliSense facility will offer the China market a total MEMS solution business model, providing its customers with the ability to take a MEMS product from design to prototype production.
ClassOne Equipment is announcing today that it has appointed IntelliSense as its official representative in China. To strengthen the relationship, ClassOne will open an office inside the IntelliSense facility and feature the IntelliSense fab as a showroom and demonstration lab of its equipment offerings and refurbishment capabilities to prospective mainland China clients.
"This partnership will allow us to expand our existing China business," commented Xiaoduo Zhang, China market manager for IntelliSense. "With an established process cleanroom and equipment demo lab, which ClassOne Equipment helped us build, we can demonstrate our ‘total MEMS solution' to existing and new clients. This will be a valuable resource to show our rapid response and best-in-class service to clients in China and Southeast Asia."
"This strategic partnership with IntelliSense strengthens our foothold in China," commented Byron Exarcos, president of ClassOne Equipment. "Not only does it demonstrate that we can single-handedly equip an entire fab, but now we'll be able to reference the IntelliSense facility to illustrate the benefits of refurbished equipment. China has been major consumer of refurbishment equipment over the past several years. The IntelliSense Nanjing fab will only increase that trend."
