Semiconductor expansion projects to create hundreds of jobs
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Global Foundries has announced plans to expand its worldwide semiconductor manufacturing operations with a series of new projects. The expansion is expected to cost $3billion.
In a bid to support expected increases in customer demand, the projects consist of two initiatives - the construction of an additional wafer manufacturing facility at Fab 1 in Dresden; and an expansion of the clean room shell currently under construction at Fab 8 in New York.
At the Fab 1 (pictured) Dresden manufacturing campus, the expansion focus will be on adding new capacity to support additional growth opportunities for 45/40/28nm technologies, as well as initial 22nm development. This expansion will see a new facility constructed at Fab 1 that will add nearly 110,000ft2 of clean room space and enable the site to scale output up to 80,000 wafers per month over the next two years.
The New York clean room will increase by approximately 90,000ft2, bringing the total available cleanroom space to approximately 300,000ft2. Work on the shell expansion is expected to begin later this month pending final approval of an investment agreement with Empire State Development Corporation and the State of New York. The total facility, including cleanroom support infrastructure and office space, includes more than 1.3millionft2 of space and is expected to come online in 2012 with volume production targeted for early 2013.
According to the company, the larger cleanroom would allow for the future fit up and equipment necessary to enable a total output of approximately 60,000 wafers per month.
GlobalFoundries' chief operating officer, Chia Song Hwee, announced that the new expansion projects are expected to create hundreds of new jobs.
"Our 300mm fabs have been consistently ranked among the most advanced and efficient in the industry," Hwee said. "Now we are taking our heritage of lean foundry manufacturing and world-class fab performance and making it available on a broader scale to meet the demands of the world's leading chip design companies. With this aggressive capacity build-out plan, we are well positioned to provide new and existing customers with the fastest option to get advanced products to market in the volumes they need to ensure success."
