GEORGE TOWN – Although the Covid-19 pandemic may have immobilised some companies, the opposite is true for Lam Research, which started construction on a manufacturing plant in Batu Kawan despite the uncertain global economy.
Lam Research, a multinational American semiconductor processing equipment company, intends to keep its pledge of investing up to RM1 billion in Penang.
Corporate Vice President of Manufacturing, Mike Snell said that the pandemic has accelerated their plans, seeing as the demand for wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry has boomed due to the burgeoning work-from-home culture.
“We are continuing to enjoy really strong demand. The construction has been accelerated so we can scale even faster from what we originally anticipated,” Snell told The Vibes.
Semiconductor industry forecasts are robust, but the company has seen its potential increase even more after the pandemic started, he said.
“This continues to be a record year for investments for semiconductor fabricators for our customers.
“From the end of 2019 to where we are now, the demand is up about 80% from initially projected.”
Globally, Snell said their main challenge is hiring enough workers quickly, because internal manufacturing has not slowed down.
“Many aspects of manufacturing are strong when compared to other industries such as aerospace, and others in the service industry such as tourism,” Snell said, highlighting that Penang will be a key location for the manufacturing of their newest system intelligence product, the Sense.i platform.
The Penang plant will also be their largest among all the other factories they have in the US, Korea, Taiwan and Austria.
As the company awaits the completion of the plant in Batu Kawan, they are now operating at their interim office at Bayan Lepas with 70 new hires.
They expect to hire at least another 150 people within the first quarter of 2021.
General manager Soon Kuek said that Penang has grown so much industrially since she left in 1992.
“We want to see Penang continue to grow, develop and retain its talent. As for Lam Research, it is not just a matter of coming in and using whatever resources we can find here.
“We also have a part to play in terms of reinvesting in the schools, universities, fostering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program, fostering the people and talent development.”
Lam expects more expatriates to come in, to foster knowledge transfer as well as instil their corporate culture. The factory aims to have the factory run by Malaysians.
“We are doing a lot of local hiring and attracting people from different parts of the country. We think it is very good for Penang despite people worrying that Penang is not being able to retain its talent,” Kuek added.
Upon the expected opening of their plant in Batu Kawan in mid-2021, the firm is expected to provide 350 high-value jobs. – The Vibes, January 23, 2021
