2022 was marked with multiple changes for Trymax Semiconductor Equipment B.V., we moved to a new manufacturing facility, managed supply chain issues, and travel constraints, and implemented a new quality system. Despite all these changes and challenges, we managed to book more orders and ship more systems.
The impact of COVID-19 is still present. In some countries, it disappeared completely while other regions cope with lockdowns on a daily base. From a human point of view, colleagues suffer from long covid and the “normal“ five days at the office has changed to 2 -3 days in the office and other days working from home. Public transport is reduced as more people prefer to drive in their own car. This increase in cars created a push for stronger European norms for a clean environment and therefore a strong governmental push for electrical cars.
As a result, we see that the automotive market is growing strongly. Other markets also grow, however at a slower pace. Besides automotive, we also noticed that the storage and availability of data have increased dramatically over the past period and the forecast is very ambitious.
People are now used to having high-speed access to data everywhere.
Trymax did benefit from this changing and increasing demand and we’ve seen a strong increase in IC-Logic (controllers), discrete (power electronics), and optoelectronic (mini and Micro-led) devices. Besides the change in markets, we have also gained more recognition in the market and supplied multiple tools to major OSATs, foundry services, and IDMs. To be able to cope with the increase in demand for systems, it was the right decision to move to a new facility with 27 manufacturing bays instead of seven. The inauguration of the building and the participation of customers and suppliers is still very memorable.
Supply chain concerns have highly impacted the way of working. We increased the interaction with suppliers, and implemented plan B, plan C, and the level of creativity and out-of-the-box actions was, and still is impressive. Hats off to the Trymax team that can satisfy all our customers!
COVID-19 and the enormous pressure on supplying tools are finished, but now another challenge is on the table, the downturn. Different market studies predict a decrease of 15- 22% and yes, the first signs of customers delaying their shipments are already noticeable. I am convinced that 2023 will be another year in which we have to demonstrate our ability to adapt to situations and demonstrate our quality and deliver targets on time.
Finally, I would like to thank, on behalf of the whole Trymax team, customers, and suppliers for the trust and confidence we have received.
This post was excerpted from Community Reflections in the 2023 Yearbook. View the issue here.
