SPTS Technologies Achieves $1B Export Sales of Semiconductor Equipment
SPTS has been pioneering advanced wafer processing technologies for semiconductor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device manufacturing from its headquarters in Newport. With support from the Welsh Government Research, Development and Innovation ("RD&I") funding, SPTS continues to develop its industry leading process solutions for Advanced Packaging applications, including Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging and Plasma Dicing of wafers for higher yield device singulation.
Commenting on this achievement, Kevin Crofton, President of SPTS Technologies and Corporate VP at Orbotech, remarked: "SPTS has a long history of innovation in the new wafer processing technologies for the global semiconductor and micro-electronics manufacturing industries, with Advanced Packaging remaining a strategic and high growth segment of our business. Our proven ability to develop and commercialize new products and solutions has been key to achieving our first billion dollar export sales milestone. In 2014, SPTS was awarded significant research and development funding from the Welsh Government in support of a three-year project, which will assist us in ensuring that the Advanced Packaging solutions developed in Newport by our research and development team will continue to provide customers around the world with the most technically advanced and low-cost-of-ownership solutions available in the marketplace."
Welsh Minister for Economy, Science and Transport Edwina Hart said, "SPTS Technologies has a track record of identifying niches and successfully exploiting them, and was awarded Anchor Company status by the Welsh Government in recognition of its strategic importance to the Welsh economy in terms of exports, job creation, R&D investment and supply chain support. This $1 billion exports milestone is a tremendous achievement, and I congratulate the company on not only reaching, but surpassing, this significant milestone which represents a major boost for Welsh export sales and the economy."
Mrs Hart added, "SPTS is a significant contributor to the UK economy. The company spends over £50m a year on materials and the impact of its "˜buy local' policy means that three of their top ten supplier are Welsh firms and 80% of its annual spend goes to firms in an 80-mile radius of SPTS. Each £1m it spends supports 10 jobs in the local economy which represents a considerable indirect economic benefit for Wales. By providing support to anchor companies such as SPTS, we are enhancing the economic and industrial development in the region."
Presented with the Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade 2013 and named an "˜Anchor Company' by the Welsh Government in 2014, SPTS exports over 95 percent of its products to global customers worldwide. SPTS's equipment is used to manufacture semiconductor and micro-electronic devices that are found in many of the consumer electronic products, domestic appliances and automobiles that impact our lives on a daily basis, including nearly every smartphone in the world, energy management and control sensors in home appliances and automobile safety systems.
