The challenge of full circle manufacturing

摘要

The MEMS industry is at a crossroad. Whereas the MEMS market is prospected forrnstrong growth, the future MEMS device volumes will still be captured from historicrndevices like ink-jet printer heads, hard disc drive heads, accelerators and gyros.rnIndependent MEMS companies will therefore be in the position to determine theirrnfocus and carve out niches for themselves outside the IT and automotive industries.rnMarkets like medical and biotech represent a multibillion potential and after years ofrndoldrums, there is expectations of recovery for optical MEMS. As new applicationsrncontinuous to arise, customers move from research to production, and corporationsrnplan to outsource their manufacturing - the MEMS community now has thernopportunity it's been waiting for.rnMEMS companies have to explore the emerging applications and therncommercialization of MEMS therefore comes with many different types of businessrnmodels. Contract manufactures, foundries, manufactures of "off-the-shelf" products,rnto just name a few. Whatever model, successful companies need to:rn? perfectly understand their customers' applications,rn? be able to reformulate the product concept in MEMS terms,rn? and turn it into reality.rnWith full circle manufacturing customers are sourced all the way from productrnconcept to volume production. Each MEMS company is faced with the challenge tornprovide high quality and cost-effective manufacturing for a wide range of MEMSrndevices.