UMC’s flagship factory has been named one of 189 Smart Manufacturing Beacons by the World Economic Forum by Investing.com

Fab 12A in Tainan, Taiwan is among 17 new locations joining the Global Lighthouse Network

HSINCHU, Taiwan–( BUSINESS WIRE )–United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303)(UMC), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that its flagship Fab 12A in Tainan, Taiwan, has been selected for the World Global The Economic Forum’s Lighthouse Network, a group of 189 locations identified as exemplars in the use of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies to improve operational productivity, efficiency and sustainable production. Fab 12A, UMC’s largest manufacturing and R&D location, is also the first global semiconductor foundry to achieve Lighthouse status.

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Beacons were determined by an independent panel of experts based on their effective use of artificial intelligence, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data analytics and other digital technologies. The Global Lighthouse Network, co-founded in 2018 by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company, now spans over 30 countries and 35 sectors.

In 2017, UMC established a dedicated smart manufacturing department and designated Fab 12A as a pilot plant for digital transformation initiatives, which were later deployed at other UMC locations. To date, more than 48 4IR solutions have been successfully integrated into Fab 12A’s operations and value chain, almost 95% of which were developed or customized in-house. As a result, Fab 12A reduced design kit lead times by 57%, increased product yields to 97% and increased workforce efficiency by 47%1, significantly increasing customer engagement, quality and profitability.

TS Wu, UMC Vice President and Head of Digital Office, said: We are honored to be recognized by the World Economic Forum as a leader in adopting smart manufacturing solutions at scale to transform our business. 4IR is at the heart of UMC’s sustainable development, ensuring we can meet customer demands in an increasingly competitive market. Smart manufacturing also means empowering our employees to focus on higher value work and optimizing the use of resources to reduce environmental impact. We’re excited to serve as a beacon to other manufacturers looking to leverage digital tools, as well as learn from other Lighthouses in the network.

UMC focuses on manufacturing specialty semiconductors, which have higher value but present complex manufacturing challenges with their unique functionalities and strict performance specifications. Applied 4IR use cases helped overcome these challenges and expanded customer engagements for UMC’s specialty portfolio, increasing the company’s overall profitability.

To accelerate time-to-market for customers, UMC leveraged machine learning tools to cut design kit development time for new manufacturing processes by more than half. To ensure accuracy and timely delivery of photomasks, UMC has developed an AI-enabled platform to streamline data handling between the company, buyer and photomask supplier.

To reduce cycle time, UMC implemented a predictive machine learning model and an intelligent gas scheduling system to target key tool bottlenecks. Additionally, an intelligent root cause analysis system has been created, incorporating smart image recognition and automatic AI decision devices, to quickly identify process weaknesses and suspected tooling issues. This system greatly increased efficiency in identifying the cause of failures and solving tool problems, effectively improving yields.

The Fab 12A site comprises three separate but connected factories, with production between factories enabled by an intelligent Automated Material Handling System (AMHS). With 3,000 pieces of equipment and 68 million possible routes a wafer can take through its manufacturing process, UMC integrates AI algorithms with standard AMHS to automatically assign the optimal route. This increased the efficiency of workers and improved the utilization rate of tools and transport vehicles.

See WEF’s announcement of the latest wave of new members joining the Global Lighthouse network, including the UMC.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor company. The company provides high-quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and a variety of specialized technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, Embedded High-Voltage, Embedded Non-volatile Memory, RFSOI, BCD, etc. Most of UMC’s 12-inch and 8-inch factories with their core research and development are located in Taiwan, with additional throughout Asia. UMC has a total of 12 factories in production with a combined capacity of more than 400,000 tiles per month (12-inch equivalent), all of which are certified to the IATF 16949 automotive quality standard. UMC is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, plus local offices in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Singapore, with a total of 20,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.umc.com.

UMC’s Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the meaning of US federal securities laws, including statements about the introduction of new services and technologies, future outsourcing, competition, wafer capacity, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a number of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and the economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information about these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. UMC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

1 All figures in this paragraph show % change between 2019 and 2023.

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Contact with the media
UMC Corporate Communications
Michelle Yun
886-3-578-2258 x16951
michelle_yun@umc.com

Source: United Microelectronics Corporation