Enquiries on Competitive Advantage (April 2018)
Q1. Other than riding the global semiconductor sales trend, I am interested to know if Micro-Mechanics is currently undertaking R&D or has other plans to increase its competitiveness and revenue.
To achieve sustainable growth over the long-term, we continue to keep our focus on our customers in the semiconductor industry and the value that we bring to their businesses. We are continually enhancing our capabilities to deliver market-relevant tools and parts that meet our customers' exacting requirements.
Semiconductors are becoming increasingly complex with device geometries now moving towards and below 10 nanometers. To prevent reliability issues and other processing defects, our customers in the chip assembly and test industry require tools with smaller features, tighter tolerances and greater precision, as well as new materials and processes that are geared to control the cleanliness of the tools.
These market trends towards miniaturization, greater precision, flawless quality and reliability mean that it is no longer sufficient for suppliers to be just good at machining.
At Micro-Mechanics, we are continuously developing advanced machining processes such as laser cutting, electrical discharge machining, high-speed milling and elastomer molding, while also improving our supporting processes including new materials, testing, cleaning and packaging. To this end, we have established an Applications and Process Engineering Centre, R&D Centre for Materials and Micro-Machining and a Corporate Centre for Machining Excellence to drive continuous improvement and ensure the Group maintains our competitive edge.
Back to topQ2. Who are your closest competitors? And what is the company doing that is unique for Micro-Mechanics to stay ahead of them?
Micro-Mechanics operates in the global semiconductor industry which is keenly competitive and constantly evolving as a result of disruptive technologies and shifts in the business environment.
Our semiconductor tooling business is primarily centred in Asia and serves a world-wide base of customers. While we are not aware of a similar company that is directly comparable to Micro-Mechanics in terms of product range, scale and geographical coverage, we do face a variety of competitors ranging from small local machine shops to a few larger multi-national companies. In the "nano" world of the semiconductor industry, it has become increasingly challenging to manufacture the tools and parts to support the demanding needs of customers. One of our Group's core strategies is to focus on continually enhancing our competitive edge in this relatively small market niche for high precision tools in the semiconductor supply chain.
The Group's initiative to manufacture process-critical parts for wafer-fabrication equipment makers faces different competitive challenges. While this space offers a much larger addressable market size, there are also stronger competitors as we have to compete against the large global contract manufacturers in addition to small machine shops. As a result, we are working to become a new breed of manufacturer with competitive advantages so far not seen by others in terms of quality, repeatability and efficiency.
In essence, Micro-Mechanics' key competitive advantages include our proprietary design capabilities and manufacturing know-how; our sound financial position which enables the Group to invest in automation and advanced equipment; as well as our ability to provide fast, effective and local support to our global customers.