Germany-based Trumpf Group, which specializes in machine tools and laser technology, is to work with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工業技術研究院) to establish a Taiwan Laser Application Center in Tainan.
Representatives from Trumpf, ITRI and the Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding at a press event in Taipei, which was also attended by Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and German Trade Office Taipei executive director Axel Limberg.
The proposed center would give Taiwanese manufacturers easier access to laser components, Art Liao (廖金二), a manager at the Hsinchu-based ITRI, told the Taipei Times by telephone, adding that such components must currently be imported.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“If we imagine laser equipment being a car, the laser source, which is like the engine, is provided by Trumpf,” Liao said. “ITRI will provide the optical components, which are equivalent to a car’s transmission, and the manufacturers make the chassis.”
ITRI has facilities to make optical components, but Taiwanese companies rely on imports from countries such as Germany, England and Japan for mass production, he said.
“Imagine if the wafer made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) is a cake. We use a laser to cut the cake into smaller pieces, and package and sell them, maybe with different toppings,” he said.
Referring to high-precision 5G equipment, Liao said that the smaller and more precise the pieces, the more profitable the product would be.
TAMI chairman Alex Ko (柯拔希) said that access to high-end laser sources would open the door to a large range of applications and give the domestic industry a massive boost.
“At first, we thought that we would be using lasers for cutting, measuring and maybe 3D printing, but then we realized the applications for precision cutting in the semiconductor industry is enormous. We are still a little behind our international competitors, so we have to figure out how to close the gap,” Ko said.
Improving the quality of Taiwanese products is key to making the industry more competitive globally, Ko said.
“One laser cutter for the semiconductor industry is worth more than 100 of the products we are exporting. Imagine if those laser cutters can all be made in Taiwan and be exported around the world?” he said.
Wang — who visited Trumpf’s headquarters in September last year — said the German firm would be a powerful partner for the development of Taiwan’s laser equipment industry.
Trumpf is among the world’s top three laser source makers and the main supplier of Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV’s extreme ultraviolet photolithography systems, she said.
“I am convinced that this center will make a significant contribution to the development of Germany-Taiwan economic relations,” Limberg said. It would also serve as “a critical step in upgrading equipment and technology of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.”
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