TSMC Says Japan Chip Plant Gradually Resuming Operations After Earthquake

Japan’s semiconductor production gets back on track after earthquake (via www.ajw.asahi.com) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Has said that production has slowly returned to normal at its semiconductor manufacturing facility in Japan following a shutdown due to an earthquake. The firm noted in a statement Wednesday that its return-to-service plan is being followed and technicians are “in the process of systematically inspecting its production equipment, reviewing its systems, and bringing our manufacturing operations back online in a safe, step-by-step manner to ensure optimal process safety and product quality.”

Production at wafer fabrication facilities – the most complex in the world – has an immediate, automatic stop in case a severe earthquake or other event strikes to prevent damage to high-precision, expensive tools or to the delicate silicon wafers used to manufacture semiconductors.

Production in earthquake-prone areas like Taiwan and Japan automatically shuts down whenever an event, no matter how minor, registers with seismic equipment on-site. TSMC explained that instead of “bringing everything up at once,” its Japan facility is restarting production “phased-by-phased to enable its personnel to thoroughly examine each piece of equipment” to make sure “all production lines meet the highest possible standards and to verify everything is operating perfectly and is consistent before each tool comes online.” Its operations in Japan – for which the chip maker is continuing to boost investment, among the most advanced wafer-fabs globally, where it manufactures semiconductors for Japanese customers across Automotive, Industrial, IoT, Communications, Data Center and General Consumer device segments -- also is the most effective one where can effectively support global customers. Earthquake and power failure, among natural disasters and geopolitical instability, represents serious challenges the silicon chip sector has continually fought against for the sake of productivity at every of the few global producers of these tiny tech titans.

Japan-the country with abundant of top companies involved in electronics design, fabrication, and equipment and materials manufacturing – has also turned to beef up semiconductor supply chains after the pandemic, a severe shortage of chips and supply chain disruptions in and the West and Asia proved an area in need of more supply and production that cannot be isolated by other regions.

TSMC is a major global supplier in semiconductor market and the company’s investments in new facilities worldwide including, but not limited to Japan, the United States and Europe, along with its existing fab sites in Taiwan are intended to supply world class technology products for its customers around the globe through supply chains resilient to global developments and uncertainties. Experts commented that the phased resumption of operations and testing at TSMC’s manufacturing site is expected to help reduce the overall impact of the earthquake on the semiconductor supply, yet delays in bringing fully online each individual line can still persist and will only be determined over the ensuing weeks. Such incident will surely raise some concerns about business operations continuation of world’s leading semiconductor companies but the technology sectors’ top chip maker, which has always demonstrated’ remarkable capabilities to restore its processes following an earthquake, will provide an indication about their continued high product reliability and stability by ensuring production recovers carefully at a controlled, measured pace, whilst all possible steps will be carefully considered and enacted to help minimize any potential impact and provide sufficient support toward affected customers.