Japanese firm that moves world’s chips counts on data explosion

For near 4 many years, one Japanese firm has been trusted to maneuver silicon wafers round contained in the factories of the world’s greatest chipmakers. Now it’s going again to the drafting board and redesigning its ubiquitous overhead conveyors to deal with an “exponential” surge in knowledge utilization and international chip demand.

Daifuku Co. has over its 85 years in enterprise gone from ferrying paperwork between workplaces and hospital wards to dealing with the world’s most delicate microelectronics, making the conveyor belts and packing containers that zip throughout the ceilings of contemporary semiconductor vegetation. These containers and rails, which shuttle chips to completely different elements of the fabrication course of at speeds surpassing 5 meters per second, might want to bear 100 kilograms — 5 occasions their present load — inside years, CEO Hiroshi Geshiro stated.

“Many within the trade are optimistic that development is right here to remain, as the quantity of information that society should take care of has elevated exponentially,” he stated in an interview. “Our system is like blood vessels connecting all of the vital organs” and might want to deal with that explosion in demand. The corporate stockpiled supplies firstly of the pandemic, however could face challenges if international provide shortages intensify or extend, he added.

The 63-year-old’s remarks underscore the bullishness of worldwide chipmaking leaders reminiscent of Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which have been spending unprecedented sums of cash to seize a wave of recent demand from industries reminiscent of electrical automobiles, related house gadgets and web servers. Between them, the 2 firms have dedicated to spending roughly $70 billion on new manufacturing gear and services this yr. Intel introduced two big new chipmaking campuses — one in Ohio and one other in Germany — in latest months, because it joins rivals in making ready for a doubling of the $550 billion trade over the subsequent decade.

On the coronary heart of that impending explosion might be Osaka-based Daifuku, based in 1937 as a maker of forging machines earlier than scoring its first massive break 20 years later when Toyota Motor Corp. got here calling. At this time, analysts say its programs energy every little thing from Amazon.com Inc.’s big achievement facilities to the vegetation of Intel and TSMC.

Its manufacturing facility conveyance programs are among the many world’s most subtle. Its overhead automobiles are powered wirelessly and might cowl 320 meters in a minute with out shaking or disturbing their contents. A routing system aided by synthetic intelligence helps plot paths for lots of of containers throughout a posh intertwined community with out making a jam.

“There aren’t any rivals that may match Daifuku in relation to pace in assembly buyer requests for manufacturing traces,” stated Omdia analyst Akira Minamikawa. The corporate’s lengthy observe report has “constructed a excessive stage of belief and confidence amongst semiconductor makers. In chipmaking, minimizing journey time between processes is vital to maximizing output.”

Whereas Geshiro declined to reveal the names of his clients, SMBC Nikko Securities analyst Satoshi Taninaka wrote in a report this month that Daifuku’s transport system is utilized in nearly each manufacturing facility making chips with probably the most superior fabrication processes of seven nanometers and smaller.

Semiconductor growth and manufacturing want robust tie-ups with gear suppliers reminiscent of Daifuku, which can be one cause for its competitiveness within the trade, stated Takeshi Kitaura, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Historical past of offering switch programs for chipmaking supplies makes them a powerful associate to the trade the place boundaries to entry for different producers have develop into excessive, in line with Kitaura.

Geshiro, who joined Daifuku a yr earlier than it bought into chipmaking in 1984, sees demand for its transports increasing to incorporate the so-called back-end of chip manufacturing — which options heavier, much less delicate masses. This push has been pushed partly by the growing adoption of stacked-chip manufacturing methods that put extra silicon into each module. Daifuku’s present programs carry a great deal of roughly 20 kg, however clients have been asking for ones that may work with masses between 70 kg and 100 kg and the corporate is creating new rails and carriers to deal with such weight.

All the transport system for a given fab is more cost effective than a single unit of probably the most superior semiconductor-making machines, however Geshiro considers his equipment each bit as important to the ultimate product. Chipmaker fabs are extra demanding than different industries, the CEO stated, asking for installations to be accomplished in half the time that others, reminiscent of automakers, would enable.

“There gained’t be a day when semiconductor makers might be utterly glad with what we provide as they continually ask us for extra,” he stated.