14 DAY TRIAL // ON Semiconductor has just announced that the company plans to invest more than $30 million to further expand the production capacity of its 8-inch wafer manufacturing facility in Gresham, Oregon. This is ON Semiconductor's most advanced wafer fab as it features 0.11-micron production technologies.
The company scheduled the expansion for the second quarter of 2011 and, after the investment is finalized, it should increase the production capacity in Gresham by more than 45 percent and add capabilities for 110nm to 250nm processes.
Right now, the Gresham facility supports a variety of technologies used for building power management products and spreads across an 83-acre campus.
This includes multiple buildings with 500,000 square feet of floor space (98,000 square feet of clean room) and the site employs approximately 545 people.
“During the company’s recent Q4 earnings call, On Semiconductor announced plans to dedicate approximately $250 million during 2011 to capital investments,” according to a company's spokewoman cited by EETimes.
“The $30 million investment in Gresham is a part of this. Also, the capacity and capability expansion in Gresham will be done using existing space – i.e., there will not be any building expansion or construction.”
Last year the company announced that it planned to install $15.7 million worth of production equipment in its 200mm Pocatello, Idaho, facility.
ON Semiconductor was established as an independent company in 1999, and, alongside Freescale Semiconductor, is a spinoff of Motorola.
Even after the split, the company continued to manufacture Motorola's discrete, standard analog and standard logic devices alongside other semiconductors including power and signal management logic as well as discrete and custom devices for automotive, communications and computer applications.
Outside of Gresham, the company also holds manufacturing facilities in three other locations in the US. Two additional fabs are located in Europe and six in Asia.