IGW lends a helping hand
14 July, 2021
As you may know the world is currently dealing with a global computer chip shortage on top of a pandemic. That means that manufacturers of computers, smartphones, tv’s, cars and even domestic appliances are having to (partially) shut down production. Luckily, there is also good news related to that development, especially for our prismatic parts division.
How has it come to this?
Over the last years, we have seen the rise of 5G, self-driving cars and the Internet of Things (IoT). Add to that our growing reliance on cloud services and artificial intelligence and the starkly growing demand for computer chips can be explained. Unfortunately, supply has not been able to keep up with this rising demand. The main reasons for that are the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the trade war between the USA and China. As such, the world’s leading chip manufacturers have seen their supply chains disrupted.
Simply producing more chips is easier said than done. Indeed, manufacturing a single chip takes over three months and requires huge factories, dust-free rooms, million-dollar machines, molten tin and high-tech laser equipment. While work has started on building new factories, they obviously will not be ready in the short term. However, building new machines can be done slightly quicker and that’s where we come in.
Stepping up
One of the clients of our prismatic parts division is among the world’s leading manufacturers of lithography machines who makes transistors of up to 5 nanometres. To produce that nanotechnology, our client’s production spaces respond to the strictest hygiene demands of 10 particles per cubic metre, whereas the standard for an operating room is 10,000 particles per cubic metre. For this particular client we deliver one of the frames that are used in the complex and big machines that build chips. More concretely, we machine the castings, provide the surface treatment, and perform a sub-assembly in a dedicated clean area.
Our client is predicting a sharp growth as a consequence of the rising worldwide demand and as such, they have asked all of their suppliers to grow with them. Naturally, as an ambitious worldwide leader, we are ready and excited to be a part of our client’s growth journey. What’s more, we are currently in talks to ensure that both our processes are perfectly aligned to ensure a smooth cooperation.
We are very proud to be a part of the solution to a global problem. Indeed, this is a perfect opportunity to showcase our expertise and to let our prismatic parts division grow even further. Onwards and upwards!
