The Materials and Components Alliance and SMIC held their second supply-and-demand matchmaking event successfully in Beijing.

　　On September 2-3, 2016, the “SMIC Integrated Circuit Materials and Components Mass Application Supply-Demand Matchmaking Conference,” jointly organized by the Strategic Alliance for Technological Innovation in the Integrated Circuit Materials and Components Industry (hereinafter referred to as the “Materials and Components Alliance”) and SMIC, was successfully held in Beijing. On the afternoon of the 2nd, the conference featured matchmaking and exchange activities divided into six specialized groups. Each group listened to briefings on the basic information and market expansion strategies of materials and components enterprises, as well as SMIC’s requirements for domestically produced materials and components, its verification processes, and its quality assessment system. The morning session of the 3rd was dedicated to a plenary meeting themed “Close Cooperation, Mutual Support, Symbiotic Win-Win, and Collaborative Development.” Attending the meeting were Director Ma Junru from the National 02 Special Project Expert Advisory Committee, Director Qiu Gang from the Office of Major Special Projects at the Ministry of Science and Technology, Chief Engineer Ye Tianchun from the 02 Special Project, and Secretary-General Shi Ying from the Materials and Components Alliance. Dr. Qiu Ciyun, President of SMIC, led heads of material and component verification and application evaluation teams from SMIC’s Shanghai Fab 1, Shanghai Fab 8, Beijing Fab 1, SMIC Northern, Tianjin Fab, Shenzhen Fab, and other facilities, along with over 200 representatives from 57 alliance member units across China, covering technical, quality, and marketing & sales areas.

　　Zheng Jingde, Senior Director of the Operational Efficiency Optimization Department at SMIC, presented the company’s future development plans as well as its demand for materials and components and its localization strategy. He emphasized that, as China’s largest and most advanced semiconductor enterprise, SMIC is uniquely positioned—and has an inescapable responsibility—to take on the strategic goal of localizing materials and components. To date, 67 materials have been successfully verified at SMIC, including 12 materials already being used at the 28-nanometer node. Nearly 60 additional materials are currently undergoing verification, with more than 10 of these expected to be validated for use at the 14-nanometer node. Over the past five years, SMIC’s procurement volume of domestically produced materials has grown at an annual rate of 30%. In the future, SMIC will continue to ramp up production of new domestically developed materials and strive to increase the scale of applications for materials that have already passed verification. Dr. Kang Jing from SMIC’s Joint Laboratory shared updates on SMIC’s progress in promoting the localization of materials and components, along with suggestions for further improvements, such as broadening the scope of process applications, shortening the verification cycle, and strengthening talent reserves. Wu Wei, Director of Procurement at SMIC ChangElectronics, delivered a report on SMIC ChangElectronics’ preparations for boosting the domestic content ratio. The company has now entered the mass-production phase, making it an opportune time to invite leading domestic material suppliers to participate in the next stage of process optimization. Zhang Jia’er, General Manager of Beijing Yisheng Precision, presented a report on lean manufacturing and its role in enhancing the quality of semiconductor materials and components. The meeting also heard reports on the breakout sessions of the matchmaking event and received dozens of constructive suggestions.

　　To recognize the tireless efforts of the frontline engineering teams at Fab facilities in the localization process, and to further promote the mass production and application of locally sourced materials and components, the Materials and Components Alliance has established six categories of awards for the mass production and application of materials and components: “Advanced Technology Award,” “Breakthrough Monopoly Award,” “Market Development Award,” “Economic Benefit Award,” “Management Efficiency Award,” and “Special Contribution Award.” A total of 33 outstanding teams from SMIC’s six factories, along with nearly 300 individual contributors, received these awards. In addition, to honor local suppliers who have successfully validated and put domestically produced materials and component parts into operation at SMIC, broken the monopoly held by foreign manufacturers, enhanced supply-chain security, and reduced operational costs, the Alliance and SMIC specially presented honorary awards to domestic material suppliers at this conference. Anji Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Ningbo Jiangfeng Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. were awarded the “SMIC International Market Benefit Award” and the “SMIC International Technical Cooperation Award,” respectively. In their acceptance speeches, Dr. Wang Shumin, Chairwoman of Anji Microelectronics, and Dr. Yao Lijun, Chairperson of Ningbo Jiangfeng Electronic Materials, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to SMIC, the “02 Special Project,” and the Materials and Components Alliance for their years of support in fostering enterprise development, promoting industry chain collaboration, and building a healthy ecosystem. At the same time, they advised fellow enterprises to remain steadfast in pursuing their goals, continuously improve product quality, enhance quality awareness among all employees, establish a quality management system involving everyone, meet semiconductor industry performance requirements, and thereby better serve SMIC.

　　Since 2011, SMIC has been vigorously promoting the development of local suppliers. The company has established an internal operational management mechanism aimed at facilitating the mass production and large-scale procurement of domestically produced materials and components. This mechanism involves personnel from various departments, including process R&D, evaluation and certification, production operations, and materials procurement. As a result, the actual volume of domestically produced materials and components procured on a large scale has been increasing year by year. Dr. Qiu Ciyun, President of SMIC, stated: “As China’s semiconductor industry continues to grow stronger, we hope that internationally first-class suppliers will soon collaborate with SMIC. At the same time, SMIC remains committed to an open attitude and encourages the domestic suppliers it supports to cooperate with users beyond SMIC, helping these domestic suppliers expand their reach beyond China and enter the global market.”

　　Chief Engineer Ye Tianchun fully affirmed the effectiveness of this matchmaking meeting and put forward requirements for the next steps. He expressed his hope that material and component enterprises would strive to enhance their product competitiveness, address issues related to product variety, production volume, and quality stability, and actively collaborate with user companies to develop new processes, thereby achieving synergistic development between suppliers and users.

　　In his speech, Director Qiu Gang pointed out that integrated circuits represent the concentrated embodiment of China’s advanced manufacturing-related technological integration. They serve as both an entry point for developing high-end manufacturing and a crucial strategic vantage point. He expressed hope that the alliance would play the role of a third-party support platform, vigorously promoting cooperation between suppliers and users, and acting as a bridge between the government and enterprises. Guided by the nation’s major strategic initiatives, the alliance should help enterprises align with market demands, clarify strategic priorities, put forward policy recommendations, and foster collaborative development.

　　In his concluding remarks, Director Ma Junru pointed out that materials and components are critically important in the integrated circuit industry. Given that, at present, China’s integrated circuit industry relies heavily on imports for equipment, materials, and components, and given the relatively well-established international supply chain, developing our own localized supply chain requires clarifying our strategic direction and identifying key breakthrough points. We must focus on products and technologies that are strategically vital, as well as those with high market demand and a decisive impact on cost reduction, and rapidly advance by integrating resources from all relevant sectors. The alliance has done an excellent job in providing a platform for joint cooperation. I hope everyone will make good use of this platform and continue to provide crucial support for the alliance’s work.