Sunnyvale, Calif., May 23, 2006 – Integrated Materials, Inc., the semiconductor industry's leading manufacturer of pure poly silicon furnaceware, announces the release of a cost of ownership study for its SiFusion™ furnace fixtures from Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. (WWK), a prominent, independent cost and productivity management software and consulting services company.

Commissioned by Integrated Materials, this analysis examines and compares the cost and productivity issues related to quartz, silicon carbide and poly silicon SiFusion furnaceware, and provides quantitative validation of the financial benefits of SiFusion products in LPCVD applications. The study concludes that the SiFusion products “provided the lowest cost of ownership by a substantial margin … through the total elimination of cleanings.”

“On rare occasions, we get the opportunity to conduct studies that have the potential to make a major change in a process’s cost structure,” said David Jimenez, WWK’s president. “Our research on SiFusion demonstrated that these poly silicon products not only reduce LPCVD cost of ownership but also increase system availability and provide a payback period that is far shorter than most fab managers’ rules of thumb for procurement.”

The WWK cost-of-ownership analysis included consideration of production utilization rates, good wafers out per week, annual cleaning costs, annual component consumption and annual breakage risk. For each of these factors, SiFusion furnaceware performed better than the quartz and silicon carbide consumables.

Integrated Materials’ patented SiFusion technology enables it to manufacture its suite of poly silicon furnaceware – the first viable pure silicon alternative to traditional quartz and silicon carbide consumables. The line of SiFusion products includes furnace boats, injectors and pedestals.

“For more than 20 years, the semiconductor industry has sought a solution to the acute problems that accompany the use of quartz and silicon carbide in furnace processes,” said Duncan Dobson, vice president of marketing at Integrated Materials. “Integrated Materials has developed a solution to these problems, and we are pleased that the industry’s leading experts in manufacturing cost analysis, Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. have provided validation for our work with its independent third-party review.”

The WWK study explored the cost of ownership advantage for IMI’s SiFusion furnaceware for 200 and 300 mm LPCVD processes. The review, which compared SiFusion fixtures to traditional quartz and silicon carbide alternatives, determined that SiFusion components increased the production utilization capability in 300 mm processes by more than seven percent and reduced lifetime costs by nearly $2 million in comparison to silicon carbide materials.

The study was conducted using WWK’s TWO COOL® cost of ownership (COO) and overall equipment efficiency (OEE) simulation software and on-site modeling/engineering support. The first research paper based on the COO study of silicon nitride processes is available for download at www.sifusion.com/nitride.

About Integrated Materials, Inc.
With its patented SiFusion technology, Integrated Materials, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., is the first and only company to perfect the poly silicon furnace fixtures solution sought for years by the semiconductor industry. Integrated Materials’ unique family of SiFusion poly silicon furnaceware eclipses traditional quartz and silicon carbide consumables by its ability to increase yield by reducing particles in LPCVD and trace metal contamination and slip reduction in high temperature process. SiFusion furnaceware improves productivity and reduces cost with the elimination of routine cleaning. Already qualified by 200 mm and 300 mm key fabs, SiFusion products are tested, proven and available now. Integrated Materials is supported worldwide by its team of application engineers and in-country support staff. www.integratedmaterials.com

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.