THE JAPAN NEWS



 

 
Major semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp. has restored the clean room where a fire broke out at its Naka Factory in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, the company has announced.

Renesas Electronics said Saturday that it will now replace the manufacturing equipment and aims to resume production on April 19. Shipments from the plant are expected to return to normal in June or July.

The clean room contains semiconductor manufacturing equipment and is the heart of the factory. Up to 1,600 people per day, from partner companies and other organizations, helped to clean the floors, walls and ceilings.

The fire broke out on March 19 in the clean room of the N3 Building, which is mainly devoted to manufacturing semiconductors for automobiles. About 600 square meters, or about 5% of the clean room, was burned.

Of the approximately 600 units of manufacturing equipment, a total of 23 were burned or rendered unusable due to soot from the smoke.
Renesas Electronics plans to compensate for the reduced production at a factory in Ehime Prefecture, as well as at another factory in Japan or by outsourcing production to a Taiwan manufacturer.