Alain Bojarski, Soluris President and CEO

Alain Bojarski is the president and CEO of Soluris Inc. (Concord, Mass.), which acquired the Verification Systems division of Schlumberger in September. Since late 1997, Bojarski served as vice president and general manager of Verification Systems. An 18-year Schlumberger veteran, he held several general management positions with various divisions of Schlumberger in Europe and the United States. He has a degree in radio communication from the Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité in France. Soluris has products in optical overlay and ultralow-voltage CD-SEM, and is focused on semiconductor metrology.

SI: Can you tell us something about Soluris' acquisition of the Verification Systems assets of Schlumberger?

Bojarski: Schlumberger is a large diversified corporation, with revenues over $13B. For over 70 years, it has been in the oilfield service business. Over that time, and toward the end of the 1990s, the company diversified into many activities, from high-tech, semiconductors, smart cards, to metering equipment for electricity, water and gases. Starting in 2000, the company decided to refocus on its core business — oilfield services and services to energy companies — and began divesting itself of its non-core businesses.

SI: Was this prompted by the downturn?

Bojarski: Partly. If you look at how the company was in the 1990s, Schlumberger was the largest manufacturer of metering equipment. So, even though business was good, they decided to spin off a few divisions as well, and refocus on the company core business, which has made the reputation of the company through the years. So the semiconductor downturn did not help, but even if the market had been good, Schlumberger would have divested of this business, which was such a small portion of the $13B of the Schlumberger business. So we decided to create a new company and do a management buyout of the business.

SI: Did you encounter any problems as a result of the asset transfer?

Bojarski: Nothing specific. The transition was extremely successful because Schlumberger and Soluris were targeting the same objectives. We had to ensure that we would continue to support the installed base, protect the interests of our customers and the company's employees. Our biggest concern was to get through it rapidly, and be able to fully focus on our customers.

SI: Were all the human assets transferred as well, or were there layoffs?

Bojarski: All assets, human and otherwise — inventory, equipment, IP, service contracts, etc. — which were part of the business at that time were completely transferred to Soluris.

SI: Are you planning any changes in the way that the old Schlumberger Verification Systems supported and serviced its customers?

Bojarski: Our No. 1 target is to continue to satisfy our customers, with a high level of support and applications assistance, in North America and Europe, and Asia, as Schlumberger did before. We have the same teams in place in those regions. We want to continue to build customer loyalty around our products, and we believe that to satisfy the customer even during difficult economic times is an important objective. Our VLSI 10 best support rating has gone up during the downturn to No. 1 this year.

SI: Now that the dust has settled and the acquisition is behind you, is there anything that you are planning to change in the company?

Bojarski: No major changes are planned. As part of Schlumberger, we already had a great deal of independence to run our affairs. We have kept our management team intact, our focus is the same as it was before the acquisition. We keep developing our technology and innovations around our CD-SEM platform. We're continuing to come up with new technology, so our focus hasn't changed.

SI: Have you seen any changes in your customer base, possibly caused by the downturn, in what they now expect from you?

Bojarski: Over the last three years of downturn, what we have seen with our customers is a strong urge for us to keep our prices down and offer more services at lower cost. With everyone going after the same few orders, competition in the marketplace has gotten rough. We have, however, been able to keep our very loyal customer base, because we have always been prepared to adapt, customize and implement specific technology when asked by our customers. Having this kind of relationship — and maintaining it — over the downturn has been of tremendous value to us.

SI: Do you find that your customers now ask you to provide the technical expertise that they used to have in-house, before the downturn?

Bojarski: Yes. Like everybody else over the last two years of the downturn, we have had to adjust to the market and offer our customers what they need. What we have found is that customers now are more willing to outsource some of the development that before they would have carried out internally. In some aspects, we are acting as subcontractors for some of our customers, assisting with development. Meanwhile, it positively impacts both our bottom lines. When the downturn is finally over, we're convinced that all this development and customization work we have done and are doing will bear fruit in new orders.

SI: Looking to the future, which do you think will be Soluris' next growth areas, and how are you planning for this?

Bojarski: We have two product lines: optical overlay and CD product line, which has generated a significant part of our revenue. Then there is the new CD-SEM product line that we introduced last year. We expect the CD-SEM line to represent a significant part of our revenue this and next year. So, for the time being, we are focusing on introducing new features, technology, and upgrades to Yosemite, our CD-SEM line, specifically in the area of ultralow-voltage and critical shape metrology. We meet the needs of our customers who are innovators, and work with them to meet the requirements of the 65 nm node and below. We expect this to be our main focus for at least the next two years. Strategic partnerships and alliances are also possible.

SI: The downturn aside, is growth getting more difficult to do?

Bojarski: Here, it would seem so. It appears as if every thought and focus right now is on China and the Asian region in general. Almost every day, you see articles about someone building a new fab or facility there. There is growth there, and we have agreements there as well. I am concerned that overcapacity is being built there, and that, when the next downturn comes, they may get very aggressive on pricing. Some Chinese manufacturers are already selling wafers below cost. In years to come, this could create great difficulties for our industry. As for ourselves, specifically, I am convinced we can sustain our growth by keeping alert to special niches and evolving our technology. Between 1999 and 2000, for example, we increased our revenue by more than 400% over an eight-month period. We are concentrating in maintaining flexibility in our manufacturing as well as our service organization.

SI: Are you targeting the Chinese market?

Bojarski: We are in the Chinese market with a growing customer base. However, we are not sure that the Chinese market needs the level of technology in our platforms, particularly Yosemite, at this time. We are keeping abreast in developments there and have participated on some, but we haven't finalized any plans regarding how we want to participate over the long stretch.

SI: How do you view the IP question, vis-à-vis China?

Bojarski: Obviously, there is much concern over IP protection in China. Their past record has not been outstanding. I believe that the IP concern in China is more of a question on the IC side than it is on the equipment side. At present, we do not have too much concern over our IP in China. It would be a very difficult undertaking for them to copy our equipment. This is not to say that things may not change in the future.

SI: Which industry trends should we be paying more attention to?

Bojarski: I see two. The first, certainly, is what the next move will be for lithography. How much can 193 nm be extended, what (and when) will happen with immersion, and how will these technologies be implemented in the fab. A concern also is the shaking out of low-k dielectric — right now, there are too many discussions and too many yield problems. We're looking at all of this very carefully, because it will have consequences for our metrology tools. The other trend I see is e-diagnostics on the tool. Customers are telling us they need and want it. They feel it is essential to monitoring the tool, improve productivity and reduce tool downtime.

SI: What would you like to change in our industry, if you could?

Bojarski: I'd like for the industry to be more proactive, instead of so reactive. It would greatly buffer these cycles we go through. Better forecasting and better planning are needed — flexibility is also often lacking, and this does not allow us to react to changes as well as we could.

SI: What advice would you give to your fellow equipment manufacturers?

Bojarski: Stick to your pricing. If we don't, it puts us at a great disadvantage in terms of having the necessary resources to invest for the future and maintain the required investment to keep ahead of the ITRS roadmap.