At YES, we are positioning ourselves for the growth that is expected to flow from the on-shoring of semiconductor manufacturing. As a global company ourselves, we understand the need for local manufacturing to address supply chain challenges. The governmental incentives persuading large multinational companies to base their manufacturing in the US and Europe are, we believe, simply speeding up a trend that is in itself a reasonable response to an environment of growing uncertainty.
It is the return of advanced node logic, memory, and advanced packaging to the United States and Europe, the electrification megatrend-driven growth in compound semiconductors, and the automation of life science products’ manufacturing lines that will continue to underlie the aggressive growth trajectory of YES’s business. We are starting to see some momentum coming from the CHIPS Act and similar governmental funding programs, but significant acceleration is required in disbursing these funds to drive sufficient on-shoring of critical semiconductor products to meet the demands of these burgeoning markets.
The past three years have dramatically highlighted the vulnerability of our worldwide supply chains. And although the strictest COVID-related shutdowns are receding into the past, it is safe to say that we have not seen the end of disruptions caused by a changing climate, new pandemics, and a wide range of geopolitical factors still unknown. The increasing pace of economic and technological change will amplify these disruptions. We cannot keep those changes from happening. But as a company, we can be smart about how we prepare for them, and what adaptive decisions we choose to make.
YES has a long and valued history of close relationships with our customers. Indeed, we have defined our company’s primary mission as anticipating, enabling, and supporting those customers’ technology roadmaps. Establishing physical proximity to those customers is, we feel the next logical step in the evolution of that mission, enabling YES to build and nurture stronger connections through changing times.
Consequently, in addition to strengthening our engineering footprint in India and expanding our customer-facing teams in North America, Europe, and Asia, we will open the new YES Technology Center in Chandler, Arizona in the first half of 2023. Our Chandler Technology Center is a 123,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility dedicated to R&D, cleanroom operations, advanced manufacturing, and customer support. As a member of the vibrant “Silicon Desert” semiconductor ecosystem — which includes Intel, TSMC, Infineon, Analog Devices, TEL, and NXP among many others — we look forward to improved communication and greater opportunity for strategic interactions with our key customer base. This geographic hub in Chandler, fueled by the CHIPS Act and excellent support from state and local institutions including the Arizona Commerce Authority and the City of Chandler, is already starting to bring wide-ranging benefits to the semiconductor industry and, by providing a locus for technology innovation, to the world at large.
In summary, while 2023 will likely be challenging from a macroeconomic standpoint, YES is well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory – driven by the on-shoring of semiconductor manufacturing, increasing electrification (particularly in the automotive market), and the ongoing move toward automation of life science manufacturing lines. In support of these efforts, we will continue to invest our resources in increased manufacturing capacity, technology enablement, and customer proximity.
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared in our Community Reflections in the 2023 Yearbook. Read the issue here.
