Winway Technology Co (穎崴科技), which provides semiconductor testing interfaces, yesterday signed an agreement to build a NT$3.2 billion (US$109.77 million) facility at Kaohsiung’s Nantze Export Processing Zone (楠梓加工出口區).
The company plans to build an eight-story smart manufacturing center, which is expected to be completed in 2022, on the campus, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.
The project, part of the government’s Invest in Taiwan initiative, is expected to generate NT$1 billion in annual output and create 200 jobs, the ministry said.
Winway counts ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控) and NXP Semiconductors NV, which have facilities at the processing zone, among its major customers, Export Processing Zone Administration operations management deputy director Liu Chi-chuan (劉繼傳) said.
“Winway provides highly customized testing solutions for its customers. It is tremendously beneficial for its manufacturing facilities to be on the same campus as its major customers,” Liu said.
“Winway is not a ‘brand’ like Apple, but the firm is a leader in the critical area of semiconductor testing,” he said, calling the firm a “hidden world champion.”
Taiwanese businesses lead the way in many segments of the semiconductor industry that are not necessarily visible to the outside world, he added.
The processing zone is more than a half-century old and once hosted textile and cathode-ray tube monitor factories, Liu said, adding that as traditional industries moved out, high-tech firms moved in, making the campus home to many businesses in Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chains and creating an “industrial cluster.”
In June, ASE, Orient Semiconductor Engineering Inc (華泰電子), Thinking Electronics Industrial Co (興勤電子) and Hung Ching Development & Construction Co (宏璟建設) announced that they would invest more than NT$40.6 billion in a joint venture at the processing zone.
“With the trend of Taiwanese businesses returning to establish facilities, the campus is actually completely full,” Liu said. “We need to redesignate an administrative area to make room for the ASE joint venture and for Winway.”
Export processing zones are designed to facilitate the construction of large, resource-intensive manufacturing facilities, he said.
“First, all the land is rented, not sold, reducing the size of the investment required,” Liu said. “Second, we provide a one-stop shop for all of their needs, from licensing to labor inspections.”
Renovation projects to free up more land are ongoing, Liu added.
“We can free up more space by consolidating offices from different government departments into one administrative building,” he said.
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