By Max A. Cherney
(Reuters) – Intel and Siemens on Monday announced a three-year deal to collaborate on improving factory efficiency and automation with a special focus on improving energy efficiency and sustainability.
“Intel has big plans with our expansions, but we want to make sure that we do that with the utmost focus on efficiencies of natural resources and our commitments to the net zero,” Intel’s global operations chief Keyvan Esfarjani said in an interview with Reuters.
Seeking to better compete with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), Intel is undergoing a multi-billion-dollar shift in its manufacturing operations that includes a transition to cutting-edge chip tech known as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
The partnership with Siemens will help Intel operate the factory more efficiently, Esfarjani said.
EUV, an energy-hungry technology, is so central to advanced chipmaking that significant parts of the manufacturing process revolve around it. The partnership with Intel will help Siemens deepen its understanding of this type of manufacturing where one technology is so core to the process and help it transfer that know-how to other industries.
“Other industries are going in this direction,” Siemens digital industries chief Cedrik Neike said. “(Semiconductors) are the first ones to actually look at it.”
Siemens has forged similar partnerships with other large manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz. In that case, Siemens assisted with its transition to manufacturing electric vehicles from combustion engines.
(Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
