Semiconductor Test Consortium and Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. Partner to Demonstrate the Financial Benefits of Open Architecture

Alliance to Enhance Cost of Ownership Modeling for Test Floor Operations

February 28, 2007 (Pleasanton, CA) – The Semiconductor Test Consortium (STC), the leading proponent of worldwide adoption of Open Architecture, and Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. (WWK), a cost & productivity management software and consulting services company, announced today a strategic partnership to enhance financial modeling tools to demonstrate the value of the STC’s Open Architecture standards. This work will leverage WWK’s existing expertise in the areas of cost of ownership (COO) and overall equipment efficiency (OEE) as represented by its software products TWO COOL® and PRO COOL® for Wafer Sort & Final Test.

“The Semiconductor Test Consortium’s mission is to support the development and long-term success of Open Architecture,” stated Bob Helsel, STC Manager and Secretary. “Open Architecture delivers unparalleled technical and economic performance; is truly enabled for solution development; and provides true multi-vendor interoperability both at the hardware and software level.”

“Our work with WWK, a world leader in cost modeling, is designed to support the above goal of promoting the economic advantages of Open Architecture. This will be done using industry accepted economic modeling approaches enhanced to demonstrate the unique attributes of Open Architecture.”

“By leveraging our large installed base of TWO COOL® and the sophisticated algorithms of PRO COOL®, the STC can jump-start its efforts to quantify the financial benefits of Open Architecture,” states David W. Jimenez, WWK's President. “As an STC member company, we look forward to supporting these important, industry-wide, efforts. We believe that the results will clearly show the economic advantages.”

The Semiconductor Test Consortium was founded in 2003 to develop a common test architecture that is completely open, documented and supported via solutions available from all ATE vendors. Open to all companies throughout the semiconductor supply chain with a vested interest in the test sector, the consortium is focused on the following goals: formalizing a broadened STC scope with new working groups and specification structure; fostering pre-competitive collaboration among industry participants toward development of value-added standards; emphasizing new initiatives, the value of work being accomplished and the contributions to the industry; and continuing STC efforts to fully enable the OPENSTAR® Ecosystem. Today, 47 semiconductor, equipment and instrumentation companies worldwide and 40 university members in Europe, Japan, China and the United States, in addition to seven STIL users and five individuals support the STC.

With more than 3,000 users worldwide, Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. is the largest privately held operational cost management company serving technology-dependent and technology-driven companies. 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 most 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. For more information, visit www.wwk.com.

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