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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (45772)	4/23/2001 8:29:04 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied Materials' Total Service Solutions Program Boosts Equipment Productivity for AtmelComprehensive Total Support Package(TM) Delivers Higher System Uptime, Lowers Costs SANTA CLARA, Calif., Apr 23, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Applied Materials, Inc. today reported its Total Support Package(TM) (TSP) program has increased the overall equipment efficiency and productivity of Applied Materials' wafer fabrication equipment for Atmel Corporation. Under the TSP program, customers outsource all maintenance and spare parts for Applied Materials' systems to the company's expert service teams. Atmel, a leading supplier of advanced integrated circuits and system-level semiconductor integration solutions, uses Applied Materials' TSP in two of its North American fabs. Atmel first implemented the TSP last July in its Colorado Springs, Colorado, fab to cover all maintenance requirements for Applied Materials' Epi Centura(R) systems that support BiCMOS processes used in the production of logic, flash, EEprom and RF chips. Within a six month period, the TSP delivered a 29 percent improvement in system uptime and reduced unscheduled maintenance by almost 10 percent, allowing more wafers to be processed for higher productivity. "Using the TSP, we are seeing immediate benefits from higher system availability and overall improved production operating efficiencies," said Chip Sutphin, Fab 3 equipment engineering services manager of Atmel Corporation. "By offering this program, Applied Materials has gone beyond customer support to take an active role in the management of system productivity, ensuring that chipmakers achieve the most profitable results. This is a truly innovative approach to offering value-added service to customers." For its new Irving, Texas-based facility, Atmel deployed the TSP in December to cover all Applied Materials systems fab-wide. The TSP program provides Atmel a cost-effective way to quickly bring the systems to production readiness, and have the systems' performance optimized on an on-going basis. With a fab-wide TSP, chipmaker investments for establishing spare parts inventory as well as recruiting and training new technical service support personnel are also greatly reduced. Atmel's Texas-based facility is the first fab-wide TSP Applied Materials has implemented in North America. "Applied Materials' TSP program has helped to reduce and avoid many of the risks associated with bringing up a new fab. We have eliminated the requirement for stocking up on initial consummable quantities and preventive maintenance kitting. In addition, the TSP enables us to strategically focus on hiring and training personnel to support other fab start-up activities," said Donn Turner, Fab 8 equipment operations manager for Atmel Corporation. David J. Fried, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Customer Productivity Support Business Group, noted, "The TSP program was developed to allow customers to delegate their changing and expanding service and support requirements, enabling them to focus better on their primary business. The success at Atmel clearly demonstrates the advantages of using our resources and proven methodologies to achieve rapid system start up and continuously improve system performance while also enabling customers to simplify their service organizations." The TSP is part of Applied Materials' Total Service Solutions(TM) (TSS) program. In addition to covering all the service and parts needed to operate and maximize the productivity of Applied Materials' systems, the TSP supports a new guaranteed price per wafer pass (PWP) structure that allows customers to align service costs to production. Since its introduction in July 1999, 17 customers at 22 fab locations in multiple regions have implemented the TSP program. Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT chart, msgs), the largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry, is one of the world's leading information infrastructure providers. Applied Materials' Web site is appliedmaterials.com.