Manufacturing expansion in Batu Kawan
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCT) opened a RM250 million manufacturing facility in Batu Kawan, Penang, with an inauguration on 23 April 2024. The site supports the semiconductor-equipment supply chain. Chief executive Jim Scholhamer linked the investment to business continuity and service for local and global customers. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow officiated at the ceremony.
UCT employed about 600 people locally. Scholhamer forecast additional revenue potential of US$600 million to US$800 million once all phases were complete. The first phase covered 300,000 square feet and the second added 250,000. Nine acres acquired in mid-2023 were intended for a further phase, which remained a plan when the facility was inaugurated.
The original manufacturing project
UCT announced its move into Malaysia on 29 July 2020, naming Batu Kawan Industrial Park as the location. At that stage, leasehold improvements were expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020. Then-chief operating officer Vijay Chinnasami connected the project with the company’s global expansion strategy and support for both regional and international customers.
The original employment outlook envisaged more than 650 personnel over the following five years, covering several types of work. This was a forecast made at the project’s announcement in 2020, rather than a report of already filled positions. The proposed roles included:
- Manufacturing and engineering.
- Research and development.
- Quality management.
Subsystems for semiconductor equipment
UCT’s Products business designs, engineers and manufactures tools, components, modules and subsystems for semiconductor and display equipment. Its wider portfolio includes gas and fluid delivery systems, frame assemblies, precision robotics and process modules. These are group-wide product categories, rather than a list of every item made at the Penang site.
Chemical delivery modules carry gases and reactive chemicals from a central subsystem to a reaction chamber. Gas delivery assemblies combine components such as filters, flow controllers, regulators, valves and controls. Their designs are developed with equipment customers and tailored to particular processing requirements.
Manufacturing and services
Process modules are larger parts of semiconductor-manufacturing tools. They bring together frames, top plates, gas and chemical delivery modules, chambers and electronic, pneumatic and mechanical subsystems. Precision robotics serves applications requiring controlled motion, including wafer and chip handling, wire bonding and industrial equipment.
UCT’s separate Services business provides process-tool chamber parts cleaning and coating, alongside micro-contamination analysis. Its analytical work covers tool parts, wafers, deposits, chemicals, cleanroom materials, deionised water and airborne molecular contamination. Those activities sit alongside the group’s manufacturing offering.
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