Clients Agree to Share Actual Fab-wide Cost Data

November 30, 2005 (Pleasanton, CA) – Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. (WWK), a cost & productivity management software and consulting services company, announced today the kick off of its confidential wafer fab cost benchmarks database, Mercury CS™ . These cost benchmarks contain actual data from wafer fabs operating at target nodes between 130nm and 65nm at both 200 and 300mm wafer sizes. Projected costs at 45nm are also targeted for early 2006. Early program entrants will receive a substantial discount for their participation.

WWK’s data collection approach is based on a consistent methodology utilizing Factory Commander® cost & resource modeling software. Participating clients have their high level cost data (cost per wafer, module, and loop) anonymously added to WWK’s Mercury CS™ database. In exchange, clients gain an unprecedented insight into benchmark data and individual areas of opportunity for cost reductions. Mercury CS™ provides the ability to sort cost data by wafer size, technology node, and product type. Output cost data includes minimum, maximum and average results. Program participation is limited to IDM’s and foundries operating wafer fabs in the listed node and wafer size regime.

“WWK has been approached by our clients indicating a strong need for apples-to-apples cost data,” stated David W. Jimenez, WWK President. “Currently available benchmarks based on surveys have too many assumptions from non-user data to be the basis for billion dollar decisions. WWK’s strength is that we do the cost modeling utilizing standardized methodologies and commercially available Factory Commander® software. The advantages of this approach are so overwhelming that our clients have agreed to anonymously add their operating costs to Mercury CS™ in exchange for a better understanding of where they truly fit in the world of low cost manufacturing.”

With more than 3,000 users worldwide, Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. is the largest privately held operational cost management software and consulting company serving technology-dependent and technology-driven organizations. WWK maintains long-term relationships with prominent industry resources including International SEMATECH, SELETE, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), and national labs and universities. Its client base includes nearly all of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers and equipment and materials suppliers as well as leaders in nano-technology, MEMS, thin film record heads, magnetic media, flat panel displays, and solar panels.

WWK’s product line includes TWO COOL® for detailed process step level cost of ownership (COO) and overall equipment efficiency (OEE), PRO COOL® for process flow and test cell costing, Factory Commander® for full factory capacity analysis and activity based costing, and Factory Explorer® for cycle time reduction and WIP planning. Additionally, WWK offers a highly flexible product management software package that helps sales forces eliminate errors in product configuration and quotation processes.

Call today for more information from Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. Providing software solutions for productivity measurement and enhancement since 1991.