Varian Semiconductor Announces Ramp Readiness Initiative
Flow Line Shipment Program Will Speed Delivery to Customers
GLOUCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2002--Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSEA - News), the leading supplier of ion implantation systems, today announced that it has launched for its E-Series implanters a flow line shipment program, which is designed to benefit customers by delivering Varian Semiconductor's tools with significantly reduced lead times.
The flow line process enables tools to be shipped directly from the modular manufacturing cell.
"Providing customers with earlier delivery times is just one of the customer service initiatives that we are focusing on," said John Aldeborgh, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Varian Semiconductor. "The E-Series flow line shipment program translates into quicker time to the first production wafer at our customers, enabling them to achieve a higher rate of return on their capital investment. Our advanced flow line manufacturing process, with the use of emulation software, permits full system level testing at the modular manufacturing cell. This means that no additional time is lost for customer personnel to travel to and from VSEA to complete Factory Acceptance Testing, thereby eliminating travel expenses, while installation time remains unchanged. All flow line shipments during the past quarter have met or exceeded installation schedules."
Launched in 1988, Varian Semiconductor's E-series tools are the most commercially successful ion implanters of all time, and they were the foundation of the development of the single wafer VIISta platform. VSEA has shipped over 800 of the E-series implanters, which are used by almost all manufacturers around the globe for advanced chip fabrication.
About Varian Semiconductor
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates is the leading producer of ion implantation equipment used in the manufacture of semiconductors. The company is headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and operates worldwide. Varian Semiconductor maintains a web site at www.vsea.com. The information contained in the company's web site is not incorporated by reference into this release, and the web site address is included in this release as an inactive textual reference only.
Note: This release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, the statements concerning the company's expectations regarding the flow line shipment program discussed in this release, market share and technology leadership, technological capabilities and benefits are forward-looking statements and any statements using the terms "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. There are a number of important risks and factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements. These include, among others, volatility in the semiconductor equipment industry; economic conditions in general and as they affect the company's customers; significant fluctuations in the company's quarterly operating results; the impact of rapid technological change; the company's dependence on the development and introduction of new products; the company's concentration on ion implantation systems and related products; concentration in the company's customer base and lengthy sales cycles; the highly competitive market in which the company competes; risks of international sales; foreign currency risks; and general economic conditions; and other factors identified in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievement. The company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
