2024/2/24 09:44 (updated at 2/24 13:39)
TSMC’s Kumamoto fab opened on February 24 and is expected to mass-produce in the fourth quarter. The Kumamoto fab is the first overseas wafer fab to be opened in TSMC’s global layout in recent years, attracting a large number of media reports.Photo by Central News Agency reporter Yang Mingzhu Kumamoto on February 24, 113
(Central News Agency reporters Zhang Jianzhong and Yang Mingzhu, Kumamoto, 24th) TSMC’s Kumamoto plant opens today and will set a number of records. The Kumamoto plant is TSMC’s first joint venture with a Japanese company, the first TSMC Japan plant, and the first to open in TSMC’s global layout in recent years. Overseas wafer fabs. After mass production at the end of the year, it will become Japan’s most advanced logic wafer fab.
TSMC’s Kumamoto factory is located in Kikuyo Town, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The site was originally a farmland. Now, a road separates the high-tech wafer factory and large fields of cabbage, forming a strong contrast.
There are two buildings in the factory. The outer walls of the wafer factory are designed in white, and the office building has large transparent floor-to-ceiling windows. TSMC employees can have a panoramic view of Mount Aso from the office. There is an air bridge connecting them, and there are plants and landscaping on the outside.
TSMC’s Kumamoto plant started construction in April 2022. With the active implementation of the Japanese government’s subsidy policy and the cooperation of local construction manufacturers and other partners, it was quickly completed and opened in 20 months. Mass production is expected by the end of this year. Industry players point out that the Kumamoto plant mostly copies the design of TSMC’s Taiwan wafer fab, which will also help speed up the construction time.
The Kumamoto factory is established by JASM, a joint venture between TSMC and Japan’s Sony Semiconductor and Denso Corporation. This is TSMC’s first joint venture with a Japanese company. It is also TSMC’s first wafer fab in Japan. It mass-produced 12 in the fourth quarter. Nano, 16 nanometer, 22 nanometer and 28 nanometer processes will become Japan’s most advanced logic wafer fab.
TSMC further announced its expansion in Kumamoto in February this year. It will start building a second wafer fab at the end of 2024 and mass-produce it at the end of 2027. It will increase its supply of 6-nanometer, 7-nanometer and 40-nanometer process technologies, and introduce Toyota Motor to invest in JASM.
TSMC’s Arizona plant in the United States is expected to mass-produce 4nm in the first half of 2025, and the Dresden plant in Germany will start construction in the fourth quarter of 2024 and mass-produce by the end of 2027. The Kumamoto fab is TSMC’s overseas wafer fab with the fastest progress in global layout in recent years.
Kumamoto has abundant underground water resources, which is conducive to the development of the semiconductor industry. Sony (SONY) has set up a factory there. Market research agency TrendForce believes that water resources are one of the main considerations for TSMC in choosing Kumamoto to set up a factory.
In order to protect groundwater sources, TSMC’s Kumamoto plant has planned more than 30 wastewater diversion systems with a water recovery rate of more than 75%. It also commissioned operators to test pump 12,000 tons of local groundwater. The water company tested the groundwater levels at about 20 surrounding locations and found that there was no problem appear.
TSMC’s Kumamoto fab currently employs more than 1,000 people, and it is expected that the number of employees will increase to 1,700 when mass production occurs at the end of the year. There are about 300 to 400 expatriate employees in Taiwan, and most of the local Japanese employees are also arranged to receive training in Taiwan for 6 to 9 months.
Because it is close to Taiwan, the direct flight from Taoyuan Airport to Kumamoto is only about 2 hours, and the living habits are similar to those in Taiwan. TSMC also provides subsidies, rental subsidies, etc. to employees who are assigned to Kumamoto. The benefits are generous. When the application for overseas assignment in Kumamoto is opened, employees Participation is very enthusiastic and must be screened through interviews.
The road in front of the Kumamoto factory is only one lane, and traffic jams are serious during working hours. TSMC employees drive from their dormitories to work. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to reach the factory, but it takes an hour. After discussing countermeasures with nearby Sony (SONY), the traffic jam situation has improved.
TSMC’s Kumamoto plant has attracted much attention from all walks of life in Japan. It is expected to drive the cluster effect of the semiconductor industry and play a key role in revitalizing the semiconductor industry in Japan. It is expected to bring tens of trillions of economic benefits to Kumamoto and the Kyushu region of Japan by 2030. (Editor: Guo Wuhuan) 1130224
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