AV,
Found a couple paragraphs on COO in Semiconductor International along with some quote from Brad Mattson which talk about equipment COO and buying patterns. This seems to be what has happened to UTEK. Hopefully the fabs will begin to focus more on COO.
<<...Strangely, little has been done to address these upward spiraling costs. Although device maders have demanded that equipment suppliers improve cost-of-ownership (COO) and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which they've done, equipment purchasing decisions are still largely made in the same way as they've always been. Decisions are usually based on tool performance, service and application support, company reputation and price dials; COO and OEE remain as distanct concerns. When it comes to COO and equipment productivity, "ther money is not where their mouth is," noted Brad Mattson, head of Mattson Technology. "The device industry has already changed quite a bit to factor in the economic problems." The equipment industry on the other hand, is "still doing business as usual. We're still doing technology at any cost," Mattson told Semiconductor International.
As we move into the next millennium, things need to change. The semiconductor industry will have to shift its focus from chasing the latest "gee-whiz" technology to those technologies that it can afford. ...."How does an industry undergo that fundamental change from being purely exciting, go-get-'em technology, to hey, we have to build billion-dollar factories that have to be incrediby efficient economically because we can't do it any other way?" asked Mattson......clearly there are no easy answers>>
Mike |
