STATS adds European angle to test development

ST Assembly Test Services (STATS) has opened a new UK test development centre (TDC) as part of its strategy to expand worldwide engineering support for customers.

ST Assembly Test Services (STATS) has opened a new UK test development centre (TDC) as part of its strategy to expand worldwide engineering support for customers.

Together with two TDCs in Singapore and the USA, it forms a global network providing dedicated test engineering development and quick ramp up to volume testing.

Chee-Keong Tan, STATS VP, Worldwide Strategic Test Development, said, "The UK TDC further enhances STATS' leadership in test.

It adds strength to STATS' overall strategy of providing a global engineering network to support customers with total test solutions.

Customers around the world, including those in Europe, can leverage test development expertise in the Singapore, USA and UK TDCs, which will eventually facilitate production ramp up in STATS and reduce time to market".

STATS' customers in Europe can now have their test programs developed in Europe, which are then seamlessly transferred into volume production at STATS' Singapore manufacturing facility.

Added Tan, "Customers in Europe will now also be able to tap into STATS' global test support around the clock as well as tap into engineering expertise nearer to their locations".

Located in STATS' UK premises in Surrey, the new facility will boost STATS' support for its European customers.

The UK TDC will provide a regional resource capable of a range of test development solutions.

TDC services include generating test programs, converting existing programs to other test platforms, evaluating prototype and first silicon devices, performing full characterization studies, optimising existing test programs for production worthiness and assisting in production test implementation for both wafer sort and final test.

"Test development is an involved process requiring close collaboration between the customer and STATS.

Once we have built that level of understanding with a customer, it positions STATS to successfully support other test and assembly services for the customer", said Ray Lilley, STATS European Director.

Europe's market for outsourcing semiconductor test and assembly services has been growing steadily, along with a trend towards fabless companies that concentrate on IC design and have little or no in-house test capability.

Explained Lilley, "Test technology is constantly changing.

Fabless companies can leverage STATS' specialized test knowledge to develop test programs, particularly in mixed-signal, RF and high-end digital testing".

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