In an additional move to combat the ongoing global chip shortage, Bosch plans to further extend its wafer fabrication in Reutlingen, Germany. More than a €250 million is to be invested in creating new production space and the necessary clean-room facilities between now and 2025. This will give Bosch the ability to meet the continuously growing demand for chips used in mobility and IoT applications.
“We are systematically expanding our manufacturing capacity for semiconductors in Reutlingen,” says Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “This new investment will not only strengthen our competitive position but will also benefit our customers and help combat the crisis in the semiconductor supply chain.” The construction of a new extension in Reutlingen will create an additional 3,600 square metres of ultramodern clean-room space.
As of 2025, this additional capacity will produce semiconductors based on technology already in place at the Reutlingen plant. Bosch is also extending an existing power supply facility and will construct an additional building for media supply systems serving both the new and existing production areas. The new production area is also scheduled to go into operation in 2025.
In October 2021, Bosch announced it would be spending more than €400 million in 2022 alone on expansion of its semiconductor operations in Dresden and Reutlingen, as well as in Penang, Malaysia. Around €50 million of this is earmarked for the wafer fab in Reutlingen. The further expansion of the site, which will see a new extension to the manufacturing facilities, will now supplement these measures. All in all, clean-room space in Reutlingen is set to grow from around 35,000 square metres at present to over 44,000 square meters by the end of 2025.
This article courtesy of Russell Thrall III, publisher CollisionWeek. Check out the website at: www.collisionweek.com.