Eyelit's Award-winning, Integrated Manufacturing Execution (MES) Software Selected by Umicore Electro-Optic Materials Division for Germanium Wafer Production

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eyelit, Inc., a manufacturing software provider for visibility, control, and coordination of manufacturing operations for the aerospace and defense, discrete electronics, semiconductor, and photovoltaic (solar) industries, announced today that Belgium-based Umicore’s Electro-Optic Materials Business Unit, has selected Eyelit’s manufacturing software suite to support its germanium wafer production.

Eyelit and SYSTEMA GmbH, its European partner, were selected to deliver an integrated manufacturing execution and automation solution. Eyelit’s solution replaces a paper-based system and provides reliable integration to SAP. Eyelit’s system also provides a scalable solution with equipment management and product traceability, from raw material feedstock through to germanium ingot growth and wafer production. The project starts in Olen, Belgium with a rollout to Quapaw, Oklahoma in the second half of this year.

“We selected Eyelit because we needed a solution that we could easily expand across our global network of production sites. We wanted a proven solution that we could rely on well in the future, and have both European and US support capabilities. We felt that we could implement without custom code in order to gain competitive advantages rapidly. SYSTEMA’s equipment integration and wafer manufacturing modeling experience were also critical factors in our selection,” said Mr. Ludo Vermeiren, Business IT manager at Umicore’s Electro-Optic Materials Division.

“SYSTEMA GmbH has a successful track record of providing automation and factory integration to our semiconductor and solar customers. Together with Eyelit’s state-of-the-art manufacturing software suite, we can help our customers improve their operations and dramatically drive down the cost of manufacturing. We look forward to a successful engagement with Umicore,” said Holm Fischer SYSTEMA's Senior Consultant Manager.

"We are continuing to gain MES market share with the help of partners like SYSTEMA. We’ve enjoyed a very successful relationship with SYSTEMA, found a niche in the semiconductor ingot growth area, recently added three new customers in the last five months. Whether it is concentrator solar cells (CPV), space solar cells, solar cells (PV), high-brightness LEDs or other various semiconductor applications, the manufacturing steps can all be modeled and managed within Eyelit’s solution,” stated Dan Estrada, Eyelit’s Vice-President of Sales and Business Development.

About Eyelit, Inc. (www.eyelit.com)

Eyelit, Inc. is the leader in Manufacturing Execution and Business Process Management (MES and BPM) solutions for visibility, control, and coordination of manufacturing operations for the aerospace and defense, electronics, semiconductor, and solar industries. Eyelit uniquely delivers a broad set of manufacturing solutions, including Asset Management (Semi E10), Factory Integration (Automation), Manufacturing Execution (MES), Supply Chain Execution, Quality Management (CAPA/OCAP/SPC/APC), and Business Process Management. This enables our customers to rapidly and cost-effectively optimize production and company processes. With exceptional customer service, Eyelit has time and again proven that superior innovative technology can increase efficiency and value. More than 40 leading companies, including A123Systems, Analog Devices, austriamicrosystems, CaliSolar, Deutsche Solar, FLIR Systems, Freescale Semiconductor, SiCrystal, Innovalight, Nemotek, Tower Semiconductor, Umicore, and VTI Technologies, rely on Eyelit as a trusted software partner.

About SYSTEMA GmbH (www.systemagmbh.de)

SYSTEMA GmbH is a recognized leader in manufacturing systems integration for the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries. The company’s innovative products and services enable its customers to quickly and cost effectively integrate, automate, and optimize their production systems from Equipment Integration to Manufacturing Execution System to Enterprise Resource Planning. SYSTEMA’S product and service portfolio are built within a Service-Oriented Architecture, using industry-standard and open-source technology stacks. Our solutions have a proven track record to significantly reduce IT’s total cost of ownership, manufacturing operating cost, and help avoid capital expenditure, while maintaining the system flexibility required in today’s ever-changing business environment. SYSTEMA’s customers, such as AMD, Hewlett Packard, Infineon, Siltronics, Bosch, and Mikron, span the globe and are technology leaders within their fields. SYSTEMA GmbH is headquartered in Dresden, Germany with offices and partners in the USA and Asia.

About Umicore (www.umicore.com)

Umicore is a materials technology group. Its activities are centred on four business areas: Advanced Materials, Precious Metals Products and Catalysts, Precious Metals Services and Zinc Specialties. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units.

Umicore focuses on application areas where it knows its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy can make a real difference, be it in products that are essential to everyday life or those at the cutting edge of new technological developments. Umicore’s overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on this ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfills its mission: materials for a better life.

The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 9.2 billion in 2008 and employs some 15,000 people.

About Electro-Optic Materials (www.eom.umicore.com)

The business unit Electro Optic Materials of Umicore is the worldleading supplier of Germanium based material solutions. The company supplies GeCL4 for the optical fiber industry, infrared optics for night vision applications and germanium substrates used in the production of LED’s and high effient solar cells for space and concentrator photovoltaic solutions. The Unit has operations in Europe (Belgium, UK and France) and the US.