AT&S Starts High Volume Manufacturing at New Plant in Kulim/Malaysia

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AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is ready to start high volume manufacturing at the new campus at Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) in the state of Kedah. AT&S Malaysia delivers high-end Integrated Circuit (IC) Substrates for AMD’s data center processors and other customers.

The new campus in Kulim, about 350 kilometers north of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, was completed in record time. “The new AT&S campus was built in just two years. One year later we are ready to start high volume production”, says Ingolf Schroeder, EVP Business Unit Microelectronics at AT&S. “This is probably a new world record. Starting high volume production is not only a milestone for AT&S but also an important step for Malaysia. By introducing high-end IC substrate technology to Kulim, we will contribute to Malaysia’s economic and technological growth in a sustainable manner. AT&S is on track to become one of the top-three IC substrate providers worldwide and Kulim will be an important contributor to our growth and strengthen Malaysia’s standing in South East Asia”.

AT&S can now benefit from a new, tightly integrated “Substrate Triangle”, consisting of its plants in Chongqing/China, Kulim/Malaysia and Leoben/Austria. “Know-how, technologies, and research in these locations are constantly shared and improved, which helps all three plants to achieve their full potential.”

AT&S’s substrate production for AMD at Kulim Campus is projected to grow healthily due to rising demand for CPUs and GPUs for data centers, AI, VR and AR technologies. With the expected exponential increase in data volume, the demand for data storage, transmission and analysis is robust. AT&S is a sought-after technology partner and the number of customers for the Kulim plant will grow significantly, with additional high-profile clients joining this financial year.

The excellent infrastructure and a deep talent pool in Kulim will make future expansions of the plant easily achievable. For now, AT&S Malaysia has about 1500 employees. Since inception, RM 600 Million were already invested in R&D and more than 5000 students have visited AT&S’s Employer Branding Roadshows. AT&S cooperates very closely with CREST (Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology), and MITI (Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry) as part of Malaysia’s National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS). “We are already giving a lot back to Malaysia’s tech ecosystem. High-end manufacturing requires a lot of investment and we are glad to have resilient and trustworthy partnerships with local institutions. We will design the future of microelectronics together”, says Ingolf Schroeder.

About RM 5 Billion (1 Billion EUR) have been invested in the plant and administrative building to date for the overall Kulim Campus. In plant 1, AT&S produces cutting-edge substrates for the renowned semiconductor company AMD. The gross floor area is about 255.000 sqm, with about 500 high-tech machines.

“This is a significant achievement in the history of AT&S, as we have successfully reached the milestone of high volume manufacturing at Kulim Campus. In the past 3 years, the team in Kulim has worked tirelessly to secure the necessary product qualifications, plant and ISO certifications. We have earned the status of “Certified HVM Site” from AMD and are proud of the contributions of our Kulim employees. They are the true enablers of this success story,” says Suan See Yap, Senior Vice President & Managing Director for Malaysia Country Management.