SEC/N Thoughts
Gary Alexander, President, SEC/N -- Semiconductor International, 5/1/2001
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The chip used-equipment industry has evolved over the past 20-plus years with few, if any, standards — buyer success is often measured in degrees of luck. But things have started to change.
At last month's SEC/N Member Conference in Las Vegas, a revised equipment condition index (ECI) was adopted. SEC/N established the original ECI in late 1998, and its 21 categories of equipment status have served the industry well. Many companies and e-commerce sites have adopted SEC/N's ECI to objectively establish a status of equipment inventories. The revised version, which still uses a three-place alpha/numeric format, is more comprehensive and easier to administer.
Also at the conference, significant progress was made in establishing international standards on equipment decontamination, software licensing, industry metrics and sales contract guidelines. More than 50 companies, from virtually every segment of the worldwide semiconductor used-equipment business, collectively worked together to develop industry standards. Task forces will interface various points of view into proposals, which will be reviewed at SEC/N's next conference in July.
Contact Gary Alexander at galexander@secninc.com and visit SEC/N's Web site at www.secninc.com.
