Infineon opens new fab facility in Malaysia

• New Industry 4.0 production and R&D facility
• 3,000 jobs at Infineon Kulim when Fab 1 and Fab 2 at full capacity

GERMANY’S Infineon Technologies AG has opened its ‘Fab 2’ production and R&D (research and development) facility in Kulim in the Malaysian state of Kedah, describing it as a role model for the Industry 4.0 concept.
 
With Fab 2, Infineon Kulim will also be positioned as the competence centre of semiconductor wafer processing, with a focus on the electrification of automobiles, the company said in a statement.
 
Infineon will work to improve both the performance and safety of cars, and to reduce carbon emissions, it added.
 
“Fab 2 will be part of Infineon’s Global Virtual Factory, a horizontally integrated front-end and back-end manufacturing network,” said Infineon chief executive officer Dr Reinhard Ploss.
 
“Through this, all Infineon manufacturing sites will be linked, including partner foundries, assembly and test.
 
“Close links allow for a fast feedback loop and close cooperation – this offers advantages in terms of speed, quality and costs,” he added.
 
As a connected factory, Fab 2 will feature intelligent shelves that automatically track the storage and retrieval of every wafer lot, the company said in its statement.
 
State-of-the-art machine-to-machine communication will record process data, allowing machines to optimise themselves; while dynamic scheduling of prioritised tasks for operators will enhance overall productivity, Infineon added.
 
Around 3,000 people will be working at Infineon Kulim when both Fab 1 and Fab 2 are at full capacity.
 
With nearly 10,000 employees in Kulim and Melaka, Infineon said it is one of the largest employers and foreign direct investors in Malaysia’s electronic industry, with a cumulative investment of RM12 billion (about US$3 billion at current rates).
 
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