SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - October 28, 2008) - INTERNATIONAL TEST CONFERENCE - Leaders
from the semiconductor and test community today announced that they have
come together under a new organization to foster pre-competitive
collaboration and standards development to improve semiconductor industry
productivity. To emphasize the nature of this organization, it has chosen
the name, "Collaborative Alliance for Semiconductor Test" (CAST). The
semiconductor test community and the general public are invited to an open
meeting to learn more about CAST at 3 p.m. PT on Wed., Oct. 29, Great
America 1 Room, Santa Clara Convention Center, at the International Test
Conference 2008 in Santa Clara, Calif.
CAST seeks broad participation within the industry to engage in and resolve
common industry issues that will ultimately lead to higher equipment
utilization, easier line balancing and greater return on investment for
equipment users, and lower redundant R&D costs in non-differentiating
product areas for test equipment providers. Supporters represented in the
new organization include a range of semiconductor industry leaders from
automated test equipment (ATE) companies, integrated device manufacturers
(IDMs) and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies.
"Our goal is to collaborate across company boundaries in critical areas of
concern while retaining free and full competition," said Debbora Ahlgren,
vice president and chief marketing officer of Verigy, and co-chair of the
CAST planning group. "Our intent is to formalize the organization within
one of the existing associations serving the industry in the very near
term."
R. Keith Lee, Advantest America's president and CEO, sees the formation of
this alliance as a "natural outgrowth of collaborative efforts that have
taken place within the industry over the past several years," and is
"excited for Advantest to again play such a central role in the formation
of an industry partnership that promises to benefit the entire
semiconductor ecosystem."
"This new consortium provides the opportunity for LTX-Credence to continue
to drive key initiatives that improve the productivity of the complete test
process," said Steve Wigley, vice president of marketing at LTX-Credence.
"We see CAST as the necessary next step to advance pre-competitive,
collaborative initiatives that address the future test challenges of the
semiconductor test industry, for the benefit of both customers and
suppliers."
Rod Stewart, general manager for the SOC Business Group at Teradyne, added,
"Teradyne is pleased to support the CAST initiative, since it has the
potential to provide real benefit to the industry overall, including both
consumers and producers of test equipment. The framework that is being put
in place not only provides tangible benefits in terms of efficiency, but
also includes a business model that will ensure continued innovation and
customer choice of commercial ATE."
"The formation of CAST is a significant and a natural next step in the
evolution of the semiconductor test industry. CAST's charter combined with
broad industry participation presents a unique opportunity to collaborate
on standards and define clear and achievable goals that will benefit the
entire industry," added Don Edenfeld, Intel, and CAST planning group
co-chair.
CAST's objectives include:
1. Foster pre-competitive collaboration, with emphasis on manufacturing
process cost, efficiency and yield, beginning with wafer test and
ending with shipment to the customer. This includes eliminating barriers
to participation, enabling a broad membership and providing a level
playing field inclusive of all semiconductor industry participants.
2. Research, develop and promote standards that enable industry
productivity improvement, specifically to enable efficient and effective
interoperability in an environment that encourages fast development,
deployment and usage of specifications and standards.
3. Define and measure benchmark criteria for quantifying end-user process
efficiency and effectiveness, and identify opportunities to improve that
efficiency via collaborative efforts.
4. Act as a representative and an advocate for the members, with a focus on
fostering a better understanding of their strategic value to the
semiconductor industry.
Charter CAST supporters include (alphabetically): Advantest, Amkor,
Infineon, Intel, LTX-Credence, Qualcomm, Roos Instruments, Teradyne, and
Verigy.
Additional information may be found at
www.CAST-standards.org, and
interested parties may email questions to
info@CAST-standards.org.
Contact Information: CAST Contact:
Bob Helsel
1-303-652-2585