Establishment of Semiconductor Assembly Test Automation and Standardization Research Association

IWATA, May 7, 2024 - Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272) is pleased to announce that it has established the Semiconductor Assembly Test Automation and Standardization Research Association (hereinafter referred to as "SATAS") on April 16, together with 14 other companies and organizations-including manufacturers of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, automated material handling systems, and standards organizations-with the goal of transforming and fully automating packaging, assembly, and testing manufacturing processes (hereinafter referred to as "Assembly-Test process"). Yamaha Motor will participate in the technology research association's activities together with Yamaha Robotics Holdings Co., Ltd. and its group companies (SHINKAWA LTD. and APIC YAMADA CORPORATION).

Moving forward, SATAS will create the technical specifications and open industry standards necessary for Assembly-Test process automation, develop and implement equipment, and test the equipment and integrated pilot line with the objective of commercializing the solution in 2028. A key goal of this commercialization is that SATAS solutions are implemented in both existing (brownfield) and new (greenfield) factories.

In recent years, semiconductors have been positioned as "Strategic Goods" under the Act on the Promotion of National Security through Integrated Economic Measures, and companies involved in the semiconductor industry are required to build more resilient supply chains considering various geopolitical risks. In the coming AI era, innovation in advanced packaging technology (is expected along with semiconductor process technology. To achieve this innovation in a more sustainable way, there is an urgent need to automate the Assembly-Test factories for semiconductor manufacturing.

SATAS aims to promote the transformation of conventional semiconductor manufacturing and realize a more efficient, sustainable and flexible supply chain by developing, jointly verifying, and standardizing technologies necessary for the automation of Assembly-Test processes, led by semiconductor manufacturers, manufacturing equipment and automated material handling system manufactures leading the semiconductor industry.