Promex
Assembly Line
Why Small Fab And Assembly Houses Are Thriving
High-volume products get more than their fair share of attention in the semiconductor world, but most chips don’t fit into that category. While a few huge fabs and offshore assembly and test (OSAT) houses process enormous volumes of chips, small fabs and packaging lines serve for lower volumes, specialized technology, and prototyping.
Some companies, such as Analog Devices, are willing to split production between their own specialized lines and commercial foundries. When the device involves mainstream technology, the company outsources it. “If you look at Analog Devices, which is well known for small volume and high mix, a big chunk of their business is now outsourced to foundries like TSMC,” said Brosnihan. “They keep the more specialty stuff in-house.” That provides Analog Devices with more flexibility for the mainstream parts, sidestepping the need to build a fab and then keep it full.
NPI lots almost always are built in the same fab as the higher follow-on volumes for the re-qualification reasons mentioned above. One pair of Canadian companies has a unique model, however. A small firm called C2MI (Centre de Collaboration MiQro Innovation) handles prototyping and low-volume production. If volumes ramp beyond what it can manage, production transfers to Teledyne Dalsa, which intentionally keeps its equipment as close as possible to that used at C2MI to alleviate the requalification burden. These aren’t separate arms of one large company. “They are independent organizations that have a partnership,” said Brosnihan.