Thorsten Frei visiting AP&S - Exchange on current challenges in the semiconductor industry

Image (from left to right): Tobias Bausch CMO & CTO AP&S, Alexandra Laufer-Müller CEO AP&S, Thorsten Frei MdB

On July 20, 2021, Thorsten Frei, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Bundestag faction, visited the Aasen-based company AP&S International GmbH. "We look forward to the exchange. The dialogue between politics and business is extremely important. Topics that concern and influence us – especially small and medium-sized enterprises – must be known and represented at the top, where laws and foundations for our economic actions are laid. Only then can we secure prosperity and economic growth here in the region," said Alexandra Laufer-Müller, CEO of AP&S.

AP&S International GmbH is a manufacturer of wet process systems for semiconductor manufacturing and is currently benefiting from the strong, dynamic growth of the industry, but is also facing market challenges.

The current situation in the semiconductor industry affects all sectors of the economy worldwide, urgent action from politics is needed. The demand for chips has been so high since the end of 2020 that manufacturers cannot supply enough. German automakers had to partially halt production due to supply shortages. The supply chain situation is critical. The entire industry depends on a handful of countries that are highly competitive in technology and sometimes compete with export restrictions. 80% of the chips worldwide come from East Asia. More than two-thirds of all German companies import semiconductors. Europe's independence can only be achieved through subsidies; countries like Taiwan, where 40% of new semiconductor factories are subsidized by the state, are considered pioneers.

"Germany must become an attractive location for semiconductor manufacturers. Securing and further expanding know-how in Germany, as well as better covering the demand for chips ourselves – these are the goals that urgently need to be addressed. However, it is also important to ensure that German and European equipment manufacturers for production facilities do not miss out on subsidies funded by tax money," said CMO & CTO Tobias Bausch. "The supply shortages in 2019 for medications and during the Corona crisis, the lack of masks, clearly showed us that production relocations to East Asia have led to an unwanted dependency. We need to counteract this here and in other areas like chip production," Thorsten Frei added.

"Another challenge is the shortage of skilled workers. A good education system is the key. The difficulty in finding personnel is already noticeable in filling apprenticeship positions, especially now after Corona, this is extremely evident. The skilled labor shortage affects all areas of companies. Currently, we have over 20 vacancies to fill," Laufer-Müller added. "Basically, we depend on immigration due to weak birth rates and increasing workforce needs. We have regulated this through the Skilled Immigration Act adopted in 2019 for people outside the EU. What we absolutely want to prevent is immigration into our social systems," Frei explained.

With innovative wet process baths, AP&S makes an important contribution to chip manufacturing. Various renowned semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are among the company's customers. The high flexibility of the modular AP&S systems allows semiconductor producers to process wafers (the raw material for microchips) in different sizes and thicknesses on one system. Solvent and etching processes can be performed on a single machine, and high batch sizes of up to 50 wafers per cycle ensure high productivity and attractive TCO (total cost of ownership). AP&S is also strongly involved in the development of wet processes for the innovative raw material silicon carbide (SiC), which is becoming increasingly important in chip production, especially with regard to electric vehicles. Because these vehicles run more efficiently and longer with SiC chips.