• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Asyst Technologies Establishes New Global Organizational Structure, Names Three New Corporate Officers

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 February 2007, 18:00 CST

Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASYT), a leading provider of integrated automation solutions that enhance semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing productivity, today announced several organizational changes to unify the company under a single global structure. The new organizational structure more closely integrates the operating and management structures of Asyst and Asyst Shinko, Inc. (ASI), following the July 2006 transaction that increased Asyst's ownership in ASI from 51% to 95.1%.

The company named Hitoshi Kawano, Paula LuPriore, and Thomas Leitzke as senior vice presidents and corporate officers. In the new organization, Mr. Kawano and Ms. LuPriore will have joint responsibility for leadership of the Automation Solutions Group, which includes all of the company's product divisions. Mr. Leitzke will have responsibility for Global Operations, which includes all manufacturing and supply chain management.

Mr. Kawano has served as president of ASI since its founding as a joint venture of Asyst Technologies and Shinko Electric Co. Ltd in October 2002. From 1969 to 2002, he was at Shinko Electric, where he most recently was an executive managing director and board member.

Ms. LuPriore joined Asyst in 2002 as vice president, software, and most recently was in charge of all of the company's factory interface, Auto-ID, and software products. Prior to joining Asyst, she held various vice president positions at IBM with responsibility for software and hardware development, product management, and services.

Upon joining Asyst in 2004 as vice president of operations, Mr. Leitzke has led a team that is responsible for improving the company's operational performance and customer satisfaction. He was previously a senior operations executive for Siemens Information Systems, Applied Materials, Inc., and Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Steve Schwartz, chair and CEO of Asyst, said, "The organizational structure we are announcing today is designed to support a vision and mission for Asyst's future as an integrated, global company. We see several powerful benefits as a result of unifying the business. These include the focusing of our resources on an integrated product roadmap that will help our products work better together, which we believe will provide a significant competitive advantage over other suppliers that lack our full line of automation products. We also will accelerate development of key new products that address new and emerging customer requirements for enhanced fab productivity."

The company's Automation Solutions Group includes the following product divisions:

IC Systems, which comprises the company's automated material handling systems (AMHS) for the semiconductor industry.

IC Components & Subsystems, which includes all of the company's factory interface products, wafer sorters, robotics, and Auto-ID for fabs and equipment manufacturers.

Flat Panel Display, which for the first time will have dedicated resources to address this large factory automation market.

Productivity Enhancement Software, which includes all of the company's current software products and product development for sales to customers (except MCS, which is part of the Systems division).

Service, which is operated as a global profit center that delivers ongoing productivity enhancement to customers.

Consulting, which is focused on economic and fab modeling and consulting to assist customers in the intelligent layout and implementation of new fabs.

Schwartz continued, "We are establishing a single, global operations organization that will continue to focus on the cost, quality, and timely delivery of our products, but for the first time this organization will have the ability to extract efficiencies from a truly global supply chain. In addition, all of our sales and field service activities are being organized under the Customer Solutions division, which has a global account management structure that will enhance and streamline the way customers experience Asyst, while at the same time enabling us to better cross-sell our products and package more comprehensive automation solutions for our customers."

Anthony Bonora, executive vice president, chief technology officer, and an Asyst Fellow, will lead the company's Advanced Technology Development division. Alan Lowe, senior vice president, Global Business Solutions, will lead the new Customer Solutions division, which includes all global sales, field service, and account management.

About Asyst

Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated automation solutions that enable semiconductor and flat panel display (FPD) manufacturers to increase their manufacturing productivity and protect their investment in materials during the manufacturing process. Encompassing isolation systems, work-in-process materials management, substrate-handling robotics, automated transport and loading systems, and connectivity automation software, Asyst's modular, interoperable solutions allow chip and FPD manufacturers, as well as original equipment manufacturers, to select and employ the value-assured, hands-off manufacturing capabilities that best suit their needs. Asyst's homepage is http://www.asyst.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. The forward-looking statements include statements regarding expected benefits from the company's new global organization. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to: the ability to continue to retain key members of the management team, ability to extract benefits from a new organizational structure, including improved products, a more competitive product offering, greater cost controls and efficient supply chain management, and other risks described in the company's Form 10-K, as amended on Form 10-K/A, for the year ended March 31, 2006 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Asyst" is a registered trademark of Asyst Technologies, Inc. "Asyst Shinko" is a registered trademark of Asyst Shinko, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category