Ashland Opens New Service in Texas for Semiconductor Process Equipment Cleaning
The Electronic chemicals Division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, a division of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), today announced the completion and start-up of a new facility in Carrollton, Texas, to support the equipment service needs of the region’s microelectronics industry. The new 40,000-square-foot facility, in the heart of the Dallas area microelectronics hub, is Ashland's largest site for servicing semiconductor tool components. Its cost was not disclosed.
The Carrollton facility offers a full spectrum of selective wet, solvent and dry cleaning processes, along with component rebuilding and preventive maintenance services, and further expands on services Ashland currently provides at its facilities in Tempe, Ariz., and Austin, Texas.
Mike Pregent, Fab Services director for Ashland, said, “Our Carrollton complex incorporates a wide range of capabilities. For example, we have wet cleaning areas that are designed with separate stations dedicated to specific cleaning chemistries -- including corrosives, caustics and solvents -- while allowing the versatility to accommodate customer-specific requirements. Those capabilities will support the cleaning, rebuilding and service needs from many areas of the fab.”
Operations will be fine-tuned to specific customer service requirements up to and including a 24/7 commitment, Pregent said. Speaking of the advanced systems in use at Carrrollton, he added:“We will utilize a number of mini-environments here, enabling us to isolate certain operations and emphasize contamination controls. All implant source rebuilding operations, final CO2 cleaning and packing operations will be conducted within strictly controlled, certified cleanroom environments.”
In keeping with Ashland's commitment to quality, a computer-based system at Carrollton will enable the tracking of customer parts to ensure proper handling and tracing. Further, all of Ashland’s operating systems at Carrrollton are already established based on QS 9000 guidelines. Sue Nilsen, Fab Services quality manager, remarked, “We are confident of our systems at Carrollton and will have them certified to QS 9000 in early 2002.” In May, Fab Services was awarded QS 9000 certification for its chemical management services (CMS) operations at two semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Texas.
"Ashland has the expertise and commitment to fulfill the semiconductor industry's stringent quality and cycle-time requirements for these essential equipment service needs," said Charles W. Cook Jr., vice president and general manager, Ashland's Electronic Chemicals Division. "As a stable, long-term participant in this industry, we are focused on providing the value-added services and products that manufacturers need to achieve increasingly efficient operations."
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