AMIS to consolidate 85% of global work in Calamba plant

BY MARICEL E. ESTAVILLO, BusinessWorld Reporter Nasdaq-listed AMI Semiconductor, Inc. (AMIS) this Wednesday opened its new $30-million facility in Calamba in Laguna as it transfers an estimated 85% of its test assembly and manufacturing operations in the US and Belgium to the Philippines. The remaining 15% of the total test assembly and manufacturing operations will be moved to its new plant in Shanghai, China, but wafer fabrication requirements or chip design will stay in Idaho and in Oudenaarde in Belgium. Sources interviewed who attended the inauguration yesterday said the company is in a hiring mode. Last year, AMIS increased the number of workers by almost 20% to add to its 675 employees, 20% of whom are engineers and 80 of whom are plant operators. In a previous interview with Tom Mills, AMIS president and managing director, he said the transfer is part of the global decision to tap the country for a bigger role in its business strategy. The new plant in Carmelray Industrial Park, 16,000 square meters in size, is bigger than its 24-year old manufacturing plant in Sucat, Parañaque, which was closed a few months prior to the transfer. The land in Calamba, on which the facility is being built, used to be owned by another semiconductor firm, PSi Technologies, Inc. This was later bought and developed by ILO Land, Inc., for lease to AMIS under a 15-year deal. Mr. Mills said the company is committed to ramp up expansion of the facility in the next five to six years. As proof, he said the one-floor building was designed in such a way that they can put a second layer on the existing facility. Headquartered in Idaho, AMIS manufactures chips for automotive, medical and industrial devices.