Double awarded for innovation strength

Management of AP&S International GmbH: Tobias Bausch (CMO & CTO), Alexandra Laufer-Müller (CEO), and Tobias Drixler (COO) - from left to right

Employees working on the assembly of the AP&S wet process systems at the headquarters in Donaueschingen. The space in production is becoming scarce. Therefore, the third manufacturing plant in Donaueschingen is already under construction.

Technical Sales Manager Thomas Gebhardt in an interview about the company AP&S and the award with the productronica award.

Technical Sales Manager Jan Krug also at the press event at the productronica trade fair in November 2021.

Innovation drives the medium-sized company AP&S International GmbH from Donaueschingen. At the international trade fair productronica in November 2021, the company received the productronica Innovation Award in the semiconductor sector. A new AP&S product, launched in spring 2021, convinced the expert jury. Once again, the lived innovation climate at AP&S was decisive for the award of the Top 100 Award. This is already the third TOP 100 seal for AP&S. But what exactly is behind the success and the innovation focus at AP&S?

As a provider of special systems for the semiconductor industry, AP&S was kept very busy in 2021. The order situation is better than ever; alone last year, the workforce grew by 40 employees, another 20 positions are advertised, and a third manufacturing plant is being established in Donaueschingen. The high worldwide demand for microchips, driven by increasing digitization, electromobility, and growing connectivity (Internet of Things), is causing a boom in the semiconductor industry and has direct effects on AP&S. AP&S customers, the international semiconductor manufacturers, are massively expanding their production capabilities. AP&S wet process systems, used for manufacturing microchips, are in high demand.

"Without a long-term innovation strategy and above-average investment in research and development, we wouldn't be where we are today. Demand for semiconductors is rising or falling," explains Tobias Bausch, CMO & CTO at AP&S. "For our customers, it is crucial that the production systems deliver high throughput, ensure high process reliability and thus a high yield, as well as offer high flexibility in application. That means these high requirements must be met. On our systems, customers can process wafers of different sizes and thicknesses (the raw material for microchips) without any modifications. This means AP&S customers can respond quickly, flexibly, and efficiently to the demand for microchips and produce quickly and reliably. This is what characterizes our systems. Recognizing technological trends in time and being prepared for increasing demands — that is the key to our success and means innovation for us," further explains Tobias Bausch, CMO & CTO.

An AP&S best practice example: Several years ago, AP&S invested heavily in research and development of the project "Processing of the innovative raw material silicon carbide (SiC)." Why was this decisive? This raw material is becoming increasingly important as a raw material for microchips. Chips made from SiC are significantly more efficient, especially in terms of electric vehicles. SiC, for example, enables a battery to be charged to 80% in 30 minutes. This is simply not possible with chips made from silicon, the traditional raw material for chips. Since AP&S has successfully implemented customer projects and gained relevant experience in this area, other customers are now building on this know-how and benefit from the rapid introduction of these processes into their manufacturing.