BUILDING ON THE PAST, READY FOR THE FUTURE: - MEMC

42
1986
MEMC builds the
Utsunomiya, Japan,
plant—becomes the
first non-Japanese
wafer maker with
manufacturing and
research facilities in
Japan.
1987
SEMI and the
Semiconductor
Equipment Association
of Japan enter into
an agreement to
exchange market data
on a monthly basis.
1988
Digital cellular phones
invented.
1989
High-definition
television invented.
SEMI establishes the U.S.
Japan Trader Partners
Conference to ease
trade friction between
the U.S. and Japanese
semiconductor industry.
1 st
MEMC Japanese teammates band together to build
quality products for customers.
utsunoMIya, JaPan
In 1986, the opening of the Utsunomiya
plant made MEMC the first non-Japanese
wafer producer to have manufacturing
and research facilities in Japan. Unlike the
move to Kuala Lumpur, which was largely
motivated by opportunities for cutting costs,
the Utsunomiya plant reflected an emerging
strategy for locating close to the customer.
Among the Japanese customers, Nippon
Electric Company (currently known as
NEC) was the largest and, acknowledging
Monsanto as a world leader in silicon wafer
production, sought them out as a back-doorto-front-door
supplier. A short-lived attempt
at warehousing proved to have little benefit
to MEMC; silicon wafers do not respond well
to warehousing, and NEC’s specifications for
wafers were constantly changing.
Despite these early challenges, the 300mm
Center of Excellence was added to the
Utsunomiya plant in 1998, and it remains
an integral part of MEMC’s presence in the
Asian and Japanese markets.