SUSS and Manz Asia team up on inkjet equipment for chip production
The partners want to make coating complex chip structures less costly and wasteful. Customer testing, production use and repeat orders will show whether the technology delivers on that aim.
SUSS and Manz Asia are developing inkjet equipment for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging. In the collaboration announced on 3 September, SUSS brings its knowledge of semiconductor processes, while Manz Asia contributes inkjet technology and experience in packaging chips on panels. By combining that expertise, the partners aim to develop the equipment faster and bring it to market sooner.
The equipment addresses a specific manufacturing problem: applying coatings to increasingly complex structures can be expensive and consume a lot of material. SUSS says inkjet can use less material and improve how coatings are applied to three-dimensional structures. If the partners can achieve those benefits consistently in production, customers could reduce costs as chip packaging becomes more complex.
The commercial question is whether customers can use the equipment reliably in their own factories. The announcement did not quantify orders or a revenue contribution. Customer qualification, production installations and repeat orders would provide stronger evidence of demand. The collaboration is therefore a development step; its contribution to sales still needs to be demonstrated.