VSEA #1 in satisfaction:
Satisfaction with chip equipment slips, but European suppliers gain, says survey
Software, process support receive low scores in many tool categories this year
By J. Robert Lineback
Semiconductor Business News
(07/03/01 11:06 a.m. EST)
SAN JOSE -- Just like last year, European-based suppliers of semiconductor production equipment made strong gains in customer satisfaction worldwide while U.S. tool vendors continued to slip in the ratings, according a new survey of chip manufacturers conducted by VLSI Research Inc.
For the fourth year in a row, American-based suppliers of chip manufacturing systems dropped in VLSI Research's ranking of five equipment segments. The 2001 "Ten Best Chip Making Equipment Suppliers" survey shows 43% of the ranked vendors based in the U.S., 36% in Europe, and 21% in Japan.
European suppliers held 20 of the top 10 rankings in the survey's five tool categories, an increase from 13 positions last year. American-based companies held 19 of the top 10 positions in the five categories this year, compared to 24 in 2000, the new report said. And Japanese suppliers held 10 of the top rated positions in this year's survey compared to 12 last year (see July 3 story).
Overall, VLSI Research's poll of chip manufacturers shows satisfaction with semiconductor equipment and suppliers slipping after some improvements in recent years. Software and process support were most often listed as dropping in quality this year compared to the previous year. However, this year's survey showed improvements in customer satisfaction of process diagnostic equipment. The 2001 top 10 rankings listed nine suppliers in the process diagnostics category, up from just six in the past two years. (VLSI Research says it will not list 10 companies in a category if suppliers do not receive a minimum level of grades from customers.)
To rank suppliers, VLSI Research asked managers and "decision makers" at chip companies around the world to rate equipment suppliers in eight areas--tool performance, uptime, software, quality, process support, technical leadership, support after sales, and overall commitment to supporting customers' needs. Equipment vendors are placed into five segments: large suppliers of wafer-processing system (annual sales over $300 million); small suppliers of wafer-processing tools; test & material handling equipment; process diagnostic systems; and assembly & specialty equipment.
The sampling size for the 2001 survey consisted of 49,409 questionnaires, said the San Jose-based research firm. These questionnaires were sent out in six languages (English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, and French.) A total of 2,243 survey forms were returned for this year's top 10 report, said VLSI Research.
Debuting in the top 10 ranking and coming in with the highest ranking overall was Universal Instruments Corp. of Binghamton, N.Y., which supplies assembly systems for chip packaging as well as printed circuit board products. Universal Instruments had a rating of 8.59 and was the top supplier ranked in the assembly & specialty equipment category of the survey.
Large suppliers of wafer-processing tools scored better than their smaller counterparts. Suppliers with more than $300 million in annual revenues had an overall average of 7.52 in the 2001 survey , which was 0.10 points higher than 7.42 for small suppliers, VLSI Research said.
In the group of large supplier of wafer-processing gear, the overall average for the top ranked suppliers dropped 0.25 point to 7.52 in 2001 from last year, said VLSI Research. This group of large suppliers had the highest rating for quality-of-results with an overall average of 8.07. According to the San Jose research firm, "The ratings are clearly backed by frequent customer comments praising these suppliers for outstanding customer service and equipment performance.
Making the "10 best" listing for large suppliers of wafer-processing equipment were: Varian Semiconductor Equipment (8.33); Novellus Systems (7.68); ASM International (7.54); Axcelis Technologies (7.37); ASM Lithography (7.27); Hitachi Kokusai Electric (7.11); Dainippon Screen Manufacturing (7.07); Canon (7.03); Tokyo Electron Ltd. (6.94); and Applied Materials (6.66).
In the category of small suppliers of wafer-processing systems, etch and cleaning tools scored the highest in the top 10 ranking this year, said VSLI Research. The overall average for this group of suppliers (with annual sales less than $300 million) was 7.42, a decrease of 0.41 from last year. Like the large supplier category, these suppliers received low scores for software--an area that shows "the greatest need for improvement," according to VLSI Research.
This year's "10 best" small suppliers for wafer-processing equipment were: Ultratech Stepper (7.69); FSI International (7.67); Tegal (7.63); Verteq (7.56); SEZ (7.53); Unaxis (7.33); Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (7.30); Aixtron (7.26); Karl Suss (7.22); and Mattson Technology (7.12).
In the test & material handling equipment segment, top suppliers saw their overall average ratings drop 0.44 point to 7.31 in 2001 from the prior year. Uptime in this category received the highest rating, while customer satisfaction in process support declined this year from 2000, according to the survey.
Making the "10 best" ranking for test & handling equipment were: Karl Suss (8.01); Integrated Measurement Systems Inc. (7.94); Accretech-Tokyo Seimitsu (7.66); Agilent Technologies (7.35); Teradyne (7.34); Yokogawa Electric (7.31); SZ Testsysteme (7.27); Tokyo Electron Ltd. (7.25); Multitest Elektronische System (7.01); and Advantest (6.97).
In the process diagnostic equipment segment, top-ranked suppliers saw their overall average ratings slip form 7.23 in 2000 to 7.08 in 2001. This group received higher marks for overall commitment to supporting customers, but lower scores for process support and cost of ownership, according to the survey.
The "10 best" suppliers of process diagnostic equipment were: Agilent (8.13); Hitachi (7.84); Schlumberger Semiconductor Solutions (7.50); Therma-Wave (7.41); Keithley Instruments (7.29); Rudolph Technologies (6.83); Applied Materials (6.60); KLA-Tencor (6.53); and Philips Analytical (6.44).
In the category for assembly & specialty equipment, suppliers saw their overall average ratings drop from 8.06 to 7.74 in 2001. However, these suppliers still received the highest overall ratings in products performance and customer service in 2001 compared to the other four segments, based on this year's survey, said VLSI Research.
In the assembly & specialty equipment category, the "10 best" ranked suppliers were: Universal Instruments (8.59); ICOS Vision Systems (8.45); Orthodyne Electronics (8.37); Alphasem (8.04); ASM International (7.89); Disco (7.69); Fico (7.66); Datacon (7.24); ESEC (7.21); and F&K Delvotec Bondtechnik (7.00). |
