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Electronics operations already account for
nearly 15% of Toppan’s net sales. What role
will electronic components and products
used in the manufacturing of semiconductor
devices play in Toppan’s future growth and
development?
In electronics, we are striving to
further develop such promising
products as photomasks for semiconductor
production, leadframes for
back-end semiconductor processing,
printed wiring boards, and CRT
shadow masks. In addition, we are
working to create demand for highpotential
products, such as CCD onchip
color filters and the BGA (ball
grid array), a new semiconductor package. Due to the large
scale of the market for electronic components and the growth
in demand accompanying the rapid spread of personal computers,
the potential demand for Toppan’s electronics-related
products is significant.
In recent years, the adoption of larger screen sizes on
notebook computers and the growing use of LCDs on desktop
computers have fueled a trend toward larger-sized color filters.
To meet that need, we have expanded our production lines
and heightened our ability to generate large-sized, high-resolution
masters. As a result, Toppan is able to offer the highestquality
color filters in the industry. Moreover, we have the
capability to mass-produce these products using a
high-purity color resist that has become an industry
standard.
In the semiconductor industry, recent
years have seen larger-scale integration and faster
devices. As a result, demand is growing for photomasks,
the masters for semiconductors, that have
much finer circuits and higher data capacities. In
response, Toppan is offering a stable supply of photomasks
for the key 64-megabit DRAMs, and it is making
steady progress with the trial
production of photomasks for
256-megabit and 1-gigabit
DRAMs.
One of Toppan’s goals is
to raise the percentage of its net
sales accounted for by electronics
operations from the current figure
of almost 15% to 20% by
2000. To that end, approximately
30% of the Groupwide
total capital investment of
¥100.0 billion in the year ended March 1998 was allocated
to the electronics field. Consequently, we have
increased production capacity, quality, and production volume
for semiconductor photomasks and CRT shadow masks, and
this investment is already showing positive results during the
first half of the current fiscal year.
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In the years ahead, Toppan plans to invest aggressively
in expanding its electronics-related facilities. In anticipation of
growth in the use of LCDs, we are seeking to further increase
yields, maintain acceptable equipment utilization rates, and
reduce the time required to change plates for each product in
order to rapidly strengthen our competitiveness and bolster
our production structure.
Progress in Electronics
New production line completed for large color filters
In the year under review, Toppan opened a state-of-the-art
production line at its Niigata plant, a manufacturing base for
printed wiring boards and for color filters used in LCDs. The
new line, which will be used for the production of color filters
for large-screen LCDs, is compatible with large-size glass
plates—up to 650 mm by 750 mm—and has a monthly
production capacity of more than 300,000 units (calculated
in terms of 14-inch units). Because the
new line is highly automated, it offers
high productivity and advanced laborsaving
functions, as well as the cleanest
manufacturing capabilities in the
domestic industry. It showcases the
expertise that we have acquired
through the operation of our 555 mm
by 650 mm substrate line. The start-up
of the new line has increased Toppan’s
total monthly color filter production capacity to more than 1.1
million units (calculated in terms of 12-inch units).
Electronics marketing and sales base opened in Singapore
In November 1998, Toppan established a marketing and sales
base in Singapore, where significant growth is expected in the
electronic components supply business. The new office is
engaged in sales and related activities for electronic components,
as well as general import and export operations. Asian
manufacturers of electronic components are expected to post
strong growth in the years ahead, with the market for leadframes,
photomask blanks, and shadow masks in Singapore
and neighboring countries being especially large. Accordingly,
we decided that we needed to have a marketing base with
close ties to local customers. In the future, we will work to
make full use of our precision component manufacturing base
in Taiwan and expand sales of electronic components in Asia.
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