Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Wolf speed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jameswallen who wrote (6601)	1/17/2003 10:55:21 AM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 10714

Here is an old post from the TMF about possible capacity expansion..... boards.fool.com Durham plant working 24/7?-Yes!! part1 by: GNordo <http://profiles.yahoo.com/GNordo/> (65/M/Baltimore,Md.) Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 08/01/02 08:28 pm Msg: 103315 of 103317 Re: Durham plant working 24/7?-Yes!! Risky-mvp Hi there quiterisky and mvp. I have no doubt the present manufacturing facility under roof will support LED, wafer,boule growth for a long time to come. The additional output, for the most part should be accomplished by: 1. At 1st. LED chip expansion will come from larger diameter wafers being processed in machinery/tooling that will remain the same size.I believe the same would hold true for wafers, and or boules-, that is, there will little or no increase in equipment foot print; rather, they will be outputting larger diameter and length boules. 2.One can reasonably guess that at this time, the existing footprint will support many more additional machines/production lines than are presently installed in their initial use of the building. Likely, there will be much room for future compaction of existing equipment in order to accomodate more total equipment count. 3. Equipment/processes to be installed in the future will likely have higher output capacity with the same footprints. 4. Manufacturing/production R&D [ as opposed to basic R&D] will continue to improve output rate, and continue to increase yield efficiency resulting is less scrap, and more useable finished product. 5. Although, I don't know this for fact, I believe the present new manufacturing facility essentially is a one floor layout with little or no 2nd floor square footage. CREE's new high roof building is easily capable of a 2nd floor. I can envision major floor space expansion under the present roof simply by adding relatively low cost mezzanines/balconies/2nd floors to in effect nearly double the floor space present in the single floor configuration. This type of space is relatively cheap and fast to construct. 6. I would expect also to see many more workers under the existing roof as more production is needed, 1st by increase of employee density on the shop floors, then later, to fill balconies/mezzanines. 7. Even though we say they are in a 24/7 mode, in the future they can increase the absolute manhours available on 24/7 by having more and more employees working the full 12 hours, not part of the work force. My guess is that they are in the early stages of fully manning a 24/7 work schedule to 100% . 8.. I would guess all the major infrastructure services, elecrical/heating/envinmental control/ water/sewage, industrial gases,etc. are already prepared to easily accomodate expansion [ either by balconizing or added exterior footprint], and the ever increasing additional infrastructure of that type will increase redundancy reliabilty of these services. With each expansion, less and less funds need be spent to assure close to 100% up time on such services con't.>>>>>>>>