The new state-of-the art wafer fabrication facility will process 8-inch wafers by initially using 0.32 micron technology, moving down to 0.25 micron in 1998.

The Phase 2 building will first produce 16 Megabit DRAMs and should add 64 Megabit DRAMs within 2 years.
The plant could also be adapted to provide other productsin the future.
The trend towards Synchronous DRAMs, however, will mean that a large proportion of Building 2 is likely to be dedicated to SDRAM production ultimately in response to European and worldwide customer demand.
Plans for the Phase 2 construction works and the appointment of contractors willbe completed by the end of 1995, with building work finalised in February 1997.
Equipment will be installed immediately upon completion and after a trial periodof production, the first products will come off the line mid-way through the year.
On the basis of Phase1 performance, the new plant will reach the 10,000,000 chip landmark in less than 2 years.
Starting mid 1997 production will be ramped up to 30K wafers per month by 1998/9.

"Durham is an example of Fujitsu's strategy of local manufacturing excellence within a world-wide network, and also of our commitment to the European marketplace", said Mr Geoff Peppiette, Marketing Director Ics Fujitsu in Europe, "The decision to add another wafer fabrication plant in Durham is largely conditioned by the buoyant market situation for DRAMs in Europe and world-wide which is expected to continue well into the future.
We believe we will be in a far better position to serve our customers as a result of this expansion.

Mr Yoshiyuki Namiki, MD of Fujitsu's production operations in the UK and the Irish Republic and who is based at Newton Aycliffe said "I believe that the Durham plant has become an integral part of the local community where we work closely with education and training organisations to recruit and develop a skilled labour force.
The planthas already forged close links with Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria Universities in particular.
Within the staff requirement for the new facility will be openings for many bright young graduates".
He added that the company would wish to arrange a construction programme no less demanding in terms of timescale and quality than had been developed in respect of the Phase 1 project.
"Indeed", he added, "We wish to shorten that programme - whichin itself created a world record - quite significantly and this will form an important consideration in our contractor selection processes.
The Phase 1 construction programme employedover 1500 people at the peak of activity in 1990/91 and Phase 2 will be equally important to the construction industry", he said.

Mr Llew Aviss, Fujitsu's Personnel Director said that the new building should see employment at the Durham Plant grow from its current figure of around 520 jobs to over 1000 within 5 years.
"The initial intake for a production start-up in mid-1997 will be about 120 but that figure will increase to about 500 as we expand the range of production equipment to an optimum level over a period of about 3 years", he said.
"The capital investment per job created in our particular industry is extremely large, amounting to about 1 million per head", he added.
"This means that we need a very high calibre workforce and that we need also to spend a lot of time and money on training. The unemployed in the area will not be forgotten, however: we are working with County Durham TEC to ensure that opportunities are created here too.
We have achieved a high level of success with the Phase 1 factory and are confident that the team we shall be recruiting for Phase 2 will be of equally high calibre.
This investment in the Durham Plant in the North East of England will represent another important step towards widening the industrial base in the Region and can be expected to boost our chances of reviving the Region's economy."

The 816 million investment in the Durham facility is a major milestone for the factory which was opened by Her Majesty The Queen in 1991.
Investment made so far totals 340M and total investment in Durham will amount to more than 1.2B with completion of Phase 2.
There will be further large-scale developments in the future as further phases are progressed.
The plant was voted best Fujitsu factory worldwide and won the company's President's award in 1994. Earlier it gained ISO 9002 accreditation (less than a year aftercommencing full-scale production) and holds STACK final level accreditation, re-affirming Fujitsu's commitment to quality.
The first stage plant will continue to produce DRAMs atthe current production level of 2.2 million devices per month.

Fujitsu Microelectronics, one of the top ten world-wide semiconductor manufacturers, first established a European sales presence in 1980 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Today its European customers are served by offices in Germany, UK, France, Italy and Scandinavia, which are supported by (European-based) R & D, technical service and sales functions basedin the UK and mainland Europe.

Fujitsu supplies a wide range of semiconductor based products to the European market including DRAMs, SDRAMs, mobile, ISDN and ATM communications devices, Flash memories, PC cards, RF and LAN Ics, ASICs, microcontrollers and multichip modules.
Their range of Components products includes Plasma Displays, Keyboards, Relays and Connectors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Llew M Aviss OR John Evans
Personnel DirectorExternal Relations Officer
Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited
Fujitsu Way
Heighington Lane Business Park
Newton Aycliffe
Co Durham
DL5 6FJ
Telephone:01325 301111
Fax: 01325 306060