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To: Kenneth V. McNutt who wrote (259)	9/16/1998 10:04:00 AM
From: w2j2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 297

ALLENTOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1998--Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group today announced it has completed a multi-million-dollar expansion of its year-old automated laser packaging facility in Breinigsville, Pa. The facility, known as the manufacturing realization center (MRC), has expanded 50 percent to 30,000 square feet, with overall production output expected to triple. The expansion of the MRC allows Lucent to better meet the demands of the growing communications industry by increasing the volume production of its optoelectronics components. As part of the expansion, Lucent will install additional automated production and testing equipment to its automated manufacturing process. The company expects to cut manufacturing lead times in half as a result of the expansion, while increasing overall production output up to three times the current level by the middle of next year. A state-of-the-art facility, Lucent's MRC employs an automated manufacturing process for the packaging and testing of high-performance laser chips used in high-speed fiber-optic communications systems. The MRC packages Lucent's family of electro-absorptive modulated isolated laser modules (EMILMs) which are the driving engines behind dense wave-length division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. DWDM is a technology that transmits multiple light signals simultaneously over a single optical fiber using as many as 80 channels, significantly increasing the bandwidth of existing fiber-optic cables. Other devices packaged at the MRC include continuous wave (CW), analog and direct modulated DFB (distributed feed back) laser "We have invested over $25 million in support of the MRC," said Dan DiLeo, vice president of Lucent's Optoelectronics business. "The explosion of the Internet across global markets as well as the merging of the data and telecommunications industries are the driving forces behind the increasing demand for optoelectronic components. By expanding our MRC, we're ensuring our continued leadership in the worldwide optoelectronics industry, delivering high-quality products to the marketplace on time." The MRC was developed, designed and built by the engineers and technicians of Lucent's Optoelectronics business in cooperation with Bell Labs. The main purpose of the MRC is to increase production volume and lower design and manufacturing costs while achieving improved yields, quality and reliability. Featuring high-precision fully automated packaging and testing equipment, the MRC represents a revolutionary approach to automation assembly. Instead of costly conventional open-space clean rooms, climate-controlled work areas surround waffle packs of individual lasers. Laser packaging operations include die bonding, wire bonding, optical alignment and device testing. Since these processes are fully automated, chances for error and overall production costs are dramatically reduced. Strategies Unlimited, a market research firm, estimates that the market for telecommunications diodes is growing by approximately 24 percent a year. Lucent estimates that its own growth could be more than double the industry average, based in part on its leadership position in automated manufacturing technology. "Component makers who are supplying the booming communications industry will need to tighten their operations in order to stay competitive in the 21st century," said Mark Thomas, analyst for market research firm Ryan Hankin Kent. "Automated facilities such as Lucent's MRC will be necessary in order to reduce price points while increasing performance levels. Lucent is so confident of the capabilities of this facility that they have announced a lifetime warranty for certain products packaged there." Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit its web site at lucent.com Lucent's Microelectronics Group designs and manufactures integrated circuits and optoelectronic components for the computer and communications industries. Lucent's Optoelectronics business is the number one worldwide supplier of fiber-optic components for telecommunications. More information about the Microelectronics Group is available from its web site at lucent.com