New Vice President of Operations in SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES ...

SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES
ISSUE XV : JUNE 2000, NEWS MAGAZINE FOR OUR BUSINESS FRIENDS
N E W S
Smart Solutions to Drive the Future
By 1999, only 3 years after the
1996 introduction of DVD,
more than 200 million DVDs
had been produced worldwide.
Understanding & Solutions
predicts that in 2000, more
than 600 million DVDs will have
been replicated. DVD will thus
approach the $ one billion
revenue mark this year. This
increase is due primarily to the
success that prerecorded DVD
discs for video applications have
had in replacing the VHS format,
a trend that started in the U.S.
and is now rapidly taking hold
in Europe and Asia. Business
opportunities will compound as
the use of DVD-ROM becomes widespread.
Baskerville Communication
Corp.’s research led the company to
forecast a seven-fold increase in DVD
software revenues in the next ten years.
The PC game market will be the catalyst
for this next DVD application. SONY’s
DVD-based PlayStation 2 was an immediate
success and sold nearly one million
times during the first weekend of its
release in Japan. MICROSOFT ® will enter
the game market with the introduction of
its own DVD console, the X-Box. Apart
from special playstations, 70% of new PCs
are already equipped with DVD drives,
and all are backward compatible to all CD,
CD-R or CD-RW formats.
Future Media, CA Expands
DVD Replication with SPACELINES
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Good Business Opportunities in Rising DVD Markets
The cost of a PC DVD drive with
additional DVD video capability dropped
to approx. 80 US$. The cost of a home
DVD player is approx. 250 US$. These low
player prices and the immediate success
of early entrants into the DVD-ROM
market will further fuel acceptance and
distribution of this enhanced medium.
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES was
an early advocate of the development
of a dedicated DVD replication line.
Numerous major orders placed in
recent months have brought to fruition
the company’s pioneering efforts during
the summer of 1997 to introduce its
dedicated DVD SPACELINE to the
market. Increased demand for new
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N E W S

continued from page 1:
capacity is evident not only in the U.S.
and Europe, but in Asia as well.
The SPACELINE has the potential of
achieving the same dominance in the
DVD arena the SKYLINE achieved
for CD applications. The clear and
convincing concept of the SPACELINE
for in-line production of DVD formats
(DVD 5, 10 and especially 9) has set
extremely high standards for process
reliability and overall productivity.
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES’ early
decision to build a dedicated DVD
in-line replication line has placed the
company far ahead of contenders
whose late start has impeded their
attainment of such highly
reliable production technology.
The design of the SPACELINE is
based on an intelligent concept with
predominantly proprietary features and
a disc handling system that prevents
mismatched discs. The size of the in-line
system is the result of a well-conceived
balance between floor space and DVD
process requirements.
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
integrates only qualified third-party
vendor components e.g., molding
machines or quality inspection units.
For these reasons, SINGULUS
guarantees a minimum of 90% yield for
all DVD formats and of 90% uptime on
the SPACELINE - the equivalent of
14,000 good DVDs in 24 hours. The
SPACELINE produces this yield with a
cycle time of less than 5 seconds, for
DVD 5 or 10 and DVD 9 using gold or
silicon sputter materials.
Year
2000
2005
2010
DVD sales to hit $65,000 million in 2010
DVD Software Revenues
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
$ million
70000
Research from Baskerville Communications Corp calculates that the next ten years will see a seven-fold
increase in DVD software revenues, reaching $64,600 million by the end of the year 2010.
Future Media Expands DVD Replication
with SPACELINES
Future Media, one of the largest independent U.S. disc replicators, has recently
installed six DVD SPACELINES in their new production facility in Valencia, CA.
To continue capitalizing on the strong growth of the DVD market, six additional
SPACELINES will be delivered and installed this summer, increasing Future Media’s
annual DVD capacity for Fall 2000.
The SPACELINE was selected because of its proven track record and its good fit in
the high volume, low production cost environment at Future Media. Dave Moss, Vice
President of Future Media, states: “We always try to invest in the most productive,
technologically advanced equipment available, and this is why we have decided on
SPACELINES. Adding this equipment and expanding our DVD capability was very
important to our business plan”.
The installation went smoothly according to Buddy Carpenter, DVD Engineer. “I have
had a lot of experience with the SPACELINE and with SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES.
I did not expect major problems, and there were none. With the relocation of our
CD lines and installation of our new DVD lines, our new plant is now completely
functional and we are now totally focused on production only”.
Future Media has rapidly become one of SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES’ major
customers. “We feel that to be selected as a supplier by Future Media is an excellent
endorsement of our products and customer support. We look forward to working
with them and developing a long-term relationship,” states Dale Butrymowicz, Vice
President Marketing and Sales of SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Inc.

STREAMLINE - The Next
Important SINGULUS Milestone
The development and introduction to
the market in 1999 of our own CD-R
replication line was an important milestone
in the realization of our long term
product and business strategy.
Installations completed to date have
demonstrated that the STREAMLINE
provides excellent product quality.
In close cooperation with the leading
dye supplier and their partner for
continued application development, we
have been able to quickly augment our
proprietary know-how for the entire
CD-R process chain.
In order to avoid continued development
and optimization of the dye
technology to be carried out on the
expensive production systems at
customer sites, a lab dye coater
module was created with all the
essential components which are
contained in a STREAMLINE.
This permits the unaltered transfer of
process parameters ascertained in the
lab to production equipment.
The hardware and control technology of
our STREAMLINE have been designed to
accommodate the successful replication
of the emergent DVD-R format. Our
company is well equipped to successfully
participate in the future DVD-R market.
Development of the new STREAMLINE
was based on the same design principles
that have led to the success of all of
our company’s replication lines. All
important components were designed
in-house. The extremely compact dye
module was designed to minimize
operating costs. The final metallizing,
lacquering and inspection operations are
performed on our proven SKYLINE
module which was modified and
optimized to meet the unique CD-R
production requirements.

WARNER MUSIC MANUFACTURING
EUROPE Produces DVD 9 with Silicon
on SINGULUS Metallizers
Warner Music Manufacturing Europe -
WMME in Alsdorf/Germany is the
European manufacturing facility for CD,
CD-ROM and DVD for Time Warner, the
world's largest media group. WMME has
produced and distributed all products
for Warner Music International affiliates
since 1975. Audio CDs and to an
increasing degree DVDs account for the
vast majority of production output.
However WMME also provides a manufacturing
service for CD ROM and DVD
to third party customers.
For the time being WMME is the leading
European DVD manufacturer offering a
daily capacity of 170,000 DVDs. Since
1998 the DVD portion of WMME's
product mix steadily increased, reaching
a total of 21 million DVDs by the end of
1999. About 40 million are being expected
for 2000.
The SINGULUS News Team interviewed
Antonio Cerrato, WMME Head of CD/
DVD Engineering, about the experiences
gained from their recently installed
SINGULUS Metallizers for the production
of DVD 9 using silicon for layer 0.
n Mr. Cerrato, you have produced DVD 9
since silicon was first used as a sputter
material. What are the reasons for your
preference?
One reason is the material cost advantage
of silicon for layer 0, which is approximately
85% less than for gold. We started with
DVD 9 in March, 1998. By 1999, DVD 9
accounted for 35% of the entire 18 million
DVDs produced at WMME. In 2000, we
expect this format to account for 70% of
a total of 40 million discs. With regard to
this nearly five-fold growth of DVD 9
production, it is essential to have the cost
and handling advantages of silicon. Silicon
offers the same quality level as gold. Our
climate tests (80ºC/95% humidity/96 hrs)
showed results identical to gold. As for cost,
silicon/aluminum is rated best, followed by
silver/aluminum. Silver/silver alloys is last
and is nearly the same as gold/aluminum.
Out of these, the silver/aluminum combination
has not yet been successful in climate
testing.
n Mr. Cerrato, you have worked since the
beginning of 2000 with SINGULUS
metallizers in your DVD 9 lines. What are
your production experiences?
Today I have
eleven lines
in a three-shift
operation with
four additional
lines to be
installed this year.
In the lines with
your SINGULUS
metallizers, we
have observed
high reliability, low
machine downtime
and increased
daily output of
between 1-2 thousand discs vs. the other
lines. We like the easy operation and have
not had to clean the machine interiors for
five months. We only do routine,
simultaneous mask changes at both aluminum
and silicon stations once per day after
15,000 discs, which takes less than seven
minutes total. The silicon target runs up to
350 kWh or more than 150,000 discs.
Cleaning the silicon masks with a chemical
process and periodically sandblasting is easy
and comparable to cleaning aluminum
masks as usual. In addition, the copper
masks do not heat up during the process,
therefore the handling is easier. Last but not
least: Apart from further maintenance
advantages, we have not yet needed to
change the oil in the pre-vacuum pumps,
which is a task we must routinely perform
on all other lines.
n Mr. Cerrato, where will you buy your next
metallizer?
We buy complete lines, not single machines.
However, we argue for every component,
and we've had good experiences with the
SINGULUS metallizer. It's a valuable
production tool for the silicon sputter
process.

The Production of DVD 9 with
Silicon Metallization for Layer 0
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
Milestones in Development
of Silicon Sputtering for DVD 9
May 00
Jan 00
Jan 99
Jan 98
Jan 97
Jan 96
6 Customers in production with silicon
as semitransparent layer 0
6
SINGULUS offers a mask cleaning method
for smooth removal of Silicon from masks
3 Customers in production with silicon
as semitransparent layer 0
3
SINGULUS finalizes development for silicon
metallization with 180,000 coatings per
target and introduces the TMD controller
1 customer starts DVD 9 production
with silicon as semitransparent layer 0
1
First special formulation of bonding
material for silicon is offered in the
market
SINGULUS qualifies as first company the
Silicon DC process in combination with
SMART CATHODE ®
Silicon nitride and silicon carbide fail for
mass production due to small and
unstable process window
Silicon nitride and silicon carbide fulfill
optical requirements for DVD 9
Start of investigations to substitute gold
as semireflective material for DVD 9
The DVD 9 (DVD-DUAL)
became already the most
important format of the
DVD family. Today more
and more DVD
manufacturers switch the
production from gold to
silicon metallization for
cost reduction.
Silicon is a proven material
in other fields like the
semiconductor industry
and can be reliably
applied with high purity.
The metallizer concept of SINGULUS
matches ideal with the requirements of
silicon sputtering:
l With the SMART CATHODE ® the
radial layer distribution can be
designed individually.
l The TMD (transmission measuring
device) and the SMART CATHODE ®
are ideal tools to control the layer
thickness and the distribution
automatically in a closed loop control.
l No particle generation when the
machine is evacuated because of
static masking system (all coated
elements remain under vacuum)
l Horizontal cathode and sputtering
“top down” arrangement so that no
particles will penetrate into
the main vacuum chamber during
venting.
l Two turbomolecular pumps with
vacuum separation (dynamic lock)
between disc loading and sputtering
area to minimize the pressure peak
at the cathode while loading a disc.
The mask cleaning procedure for silicon
is performed by using a potessium
hydroxyde solution to remove the
sputtered silicon and soft glass blasting
to recondition the surface of the mask.
Many bonding resin manufacturers offer
a special formulation for silicon-aluminum
layers to optimize the stability in age tests
and to increase the adhesion of the two
halfsides.
Due to the low absorption of silicon the
electrical signal level is as high as gold
metallized DVDs.
Age tests with silicon and gold layer at
80°C and 95% humidity show similar
results.
The silicon metallization cost will be cut
down to less than one third compared
to gold.
Long life time of masks until cleaning is
experienced up to about 30.000
coatings.
The target life is 180.000 coatings at
17 nm layer thickness by the use of a
12 mm thick target.

Customer Support
in the U.S.
Service and Spare
Parts
After the sale, one of the most
important parts of the customersupplier
relationship begins - SERVICE.
To keep pace with our tremendous
business activity, we have strengthened
the service organization with the addition
of several people. The most recent
addition to our Pleasanton, CA office is
Joyce Pritchard, West Coast office
administrator. Besides handling all of the
service activities that flow through this
office, Joyce will also set up and manage
the spare parts inventory to cover
emergency parts needs.
The field service engineering staff has
recently been bolstered as well, with
personnel now totalling eight engineers.
The East Coast is supported by Jonas
Legere, Jon Melia and Rick Daigle, along
with their service coordinator, Mary
Cosgrove. The West Coast has recently
added Modesto Manahan, Ibsen
Lourenco and Florin Drancea to the
existing staff of Dio Almazan, Tony
Aguinaldo, and (of course) Kevin
Webster, the West Coast service
manager. This group is managed by Rick
Fontanazza, located in Windsor, CT.
The service group handles site preplanning,
new installations, warranty
issues, field service support and
customer training, all under the everpresent
production pressure. “Our
service group provides some of the best
customer support in our industry,”
states Don Boynton, Vice President of
Operations. “It’s a key element in our
business success.”
SINGULUS
Announces World
Class Training Center
in Windsor, CT
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES is pleased
to announce that it will open a major
training center to be located at its U.S.
headquarters in Windsor, CT. The
training center will be a 5,000 square
foot facility sectioned into learning
centers, and will allow SINGULUS to
maintain a level of “continuous training”
for our current and future customers.
The classroom training area will include
state-of-the-art components that will
allow up to 15 students to work and
learn in a relaxed setting.
The machinery training area will
accommodate SINGULUS’ latest
production systems, including the
SKYLINE Duplex CD/DVD 5 replication
system with injection molding, the
SPACELINE DVD 5-9-10 replication
system and the SINGULUS III CD / DVD
metallizer. The SINGULUS systems will
be integrated with the necessary support
equipment including various inspection
devices to provide complete
functionality, thereby allowing for “total
system” instruction.
“Our objective is to provide our
customers the opportunity to
disassemble individual system
components down to a level that would
not be considered on the production
floor of a customer’s site,” quotes Rick
Daigle, who will be responsible for
managing the new center and providing
the training and instruction. “It will
provide an in-depth and thorough
learning experience.”
The new SINGULUS training center is
another step in the evolution of our
customer support business, and a long
term corporate commitment to our
customers in North America.

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
Started Move-in of
Manufacturing Departments
The move of the stores preassembly departments as well as
the final commissioning and testing departments into the new
Headquarter in Kahl/Main was started during the last weeks.
This move is already finished without any loss of production.
And even more important: the comissioning capacity was
significantly increased at the same time.
R&D, engineering, marketing, and administration will follow in
June. The new facility will be completely
occupied by July 1, 2000.

4/06-2000-MetaCom Printed in Germany, Technical alterations reserved
New Vice President of Operations in
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Inc.,
USA
Donald Boynton
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Inc. has
recently appointed Donald Boynton as
Vice President of Operations for its North
American group headquartered in
Windsor, CT. Don is responsible for all
service and customer support functions
for both the Windsor and the
Pleasanton, CA offices. In this capacity, he
will focus on improving all aspects of
customer support providing technical
support to the sales and marketing staff
and managing future business growth
opportunities.
Germany:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG
Junkersstrasse 1, D-63755 Alzenau
Phone: +49-(0) 60 23 - 945 -0, Fax: +49-(0) 60 23 - 945 -110
as of July 1st, 2000
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG
Hanauer Landstrasse 103, D-63796 Kahl
Phone: +49-(0) 61 88 - 440 - 0, Fax +49-(0) 61 88 - 440 -110
e-mail: sales@singulus.de, Internet: http://www.singulus.de
Great Britain:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES UK LTD
Unit 2, Shrivenham Hundred Business Park
Watchfield, Swindon,Wiltshire SN6 8TZ
Phone: +44-17 93 - 78 42 00, Fax: +44-17 93 - 78 42 22
e-mail: singulus_uk@msn.com
Italy:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Italia s.r.l.
Via Arsilli 109
60019 Senigallia (Ancona)
Phone: +39 - 071 7930312, Fax: +39 - 071 7913733
e-mail: singulus.italia@fastnet.it
Latin America:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Ltda. Latin America
Rua Sales Júnior Nr. 526 Alto da Lapa
BR - 05083-070 Sao Paulo - SP, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3641 0113, Fax: +55 11 3641 1446
e-mail: latinamerica@singulus.com.br
Don brings both technical and
operational expertise to SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES. He has held
positions as Director of
Engineering and Operations for
Kao Infosystems and, most
recently, as Senior Manager and
Vice President of Operations for
the Polaroid Corporation.
w o r l d w i d e
Singapore:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Asia Pacific5
Singulus House, 54, Lorong 23 Geylang # 02 -01
SGP-388380 SINGAPORE
Phone: +65 - 7411912, Fax: +65 - 7411213
e-mail: singulus@singnet.com.sg
Spain:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Iberica
Avda Francesc Macia 81-C
E-08190 Sant Cugat del Valles Barcelona (Spain)
Phone : +34 - 936750025, Fax : +34 - 935906426
e-mail : singulus@singulus-iberica.com
United States and Canada:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Inc.
429 D Hayden Station Road Windsor, CT 06095, USA
Phone: +1-860 - 683 - 8000, Fax: +1-860 - 683 - 8010
e-mail: mac@singulus.com
West-Coast Office:
5976 West Las Positas Blvd., Suite #118
Pleasanton, CA 94588, USA
Phone: +1-925 - 468 - 1790, Fax: +1-925 - 468 - 1793
e-mail: rnuffer@singulus.com
SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES
SINGULUS Highlights
1 SKYLINE Duplex and 1STREAMLINE
will soon be shipped to the most southern
town in the world, to Rio Grande, Argentina,
where Teltron S.A.‘s production site is
located.
Success in the Alpes: Austrian and Swiss
companies ordered 5 SKYLINEs and
1 SPACELINE.
SDC Denmark a/s, the most important
replicator in Scandinavia placed orders
with SINGULUS for 1 SPACELINE,
3 SKYLINE Duplex and 4 SKYLINEs.
Finally successful: PMI Australia ordered
1 SPACELINE to increase DVD 9
production capacity.
EMI, Italy, placed order for one
SKYLINE Duplex.
DVD boom unbroken: More than
120 orders for SPACELINE DVD
replication lines have been placed to
SINGULUS so far this year.
After intensive comparison tests and
evaluation Pioneer have decided to
purchase 1 SPACELINE for DVD 9
production at their facility in Spain.
Representatives:
Australia: Opticraft Technologies
Phone: +61-3-97768388, Fax: +61-3-97769444
Benelux and France: Vacuum OnLine N.V.
Phone: +32-2-478 - 0184, Fax: +32-2-478 - 4040
China: SINGULUS VIKA China
Phone: +852-2406 - 7112, Fax: +852-2407 - 2021
China: SAMLINK Technology Co. E-mail: Sanli@publicl.sz.js.cn
Phone: +86-512 8259 - 293 Fax: +86-512 86051 - 768
Czech Republic: Battenfeld Smid a spol., s.r.o. Zastoupeni CR
Phone: +420-311-670253 Fax: +420-311-670795
Hong Kong: VIKA International Ltd. , E-mail: alfred@vika.com.hk
Phone: +852-2406 - 7753, Fax: +852-2896 - 0347
India: Optical Disc Technologies E-mail: odt@bom5.vsnl.net.in
Phone: +91-22-4307614, Fax: +91-22-4300373
Japan: MEDIKEN Inc.,E-mail: hyakusoko@mediken.co.ip
Phone: +81-3-5470 - 9801, Fax: +81-3-5470 - 9377
Korea: DAE JOO Industrial Company, E-mail: DAEJOO@UNITEL.CO.KR
Phone: +82-2-555 - 4017, Fax: +82-2-553 - 6076
Poland: Tadeusz Pupek, Dipl. Ing.
Phone: +49-8104 352 Fax: +49-8104 352
Taiwan: ACEWAY METROTEC CO., LTD., E-mail:a25960@ms18.hinet.net
Phone: +886-2-2716 - 9178, Fax: +886-2-2716 - 9014
Thailand: Datron Thai Co., Ltd., E-mail: solar@ksc15.th.com
Phone: +66-2-392-02246, Fax: +66-2-381-2971