Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today held a press conference regarding the occurrence of a fire on March 19, 2021 at 2:47 am at part of the processes in the N3 Building (300mm line) of Naka Factory (located in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture) of Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiary of Renesas.
Date and time of the press conference
Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm JST
Speakers at the press conference
Hidetoshi Shibata, Representative Director, President and CEO
Masahiko Nozaki, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Production & Technology Unit
Hidehiko Kozawa, Representative Director and President, Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Overview of the press release
- Opening statement
“We would like to give our sincerest apologies to neighboring residents, customers, partner companies, relevant authorities and all those involved for the trouble the fire caused,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, President & CEO of Renesas. “In addition, we would like to express our gratitude for the fire department and those who partook in the extinguishing of the fire.”
- Overview of the fire
On March 19, 2021 at 2:47 am at part of the processes in the N3 Building (300mm line) of Naka Factory caught fire, which was extinguished on the same day on March 10, 2021 at 8:12 am. On Saturday, March 20, a site investigation led by the police and the fire department was conducted, and the investigation confirmed the cause of the fire to be the plating equipment within the first floor of the N3 Building.
- Cause of the fire
The casing of the equipment and the plating tank have relatively low resistance to heat, and the equipment ignited due to overcurrent. However, the cause of the overcurrent and the reason for the ignition is currently being investigated.
- Impacts
While we confirmed no casualties to the employees and no damages to the building, we confirmed damages to some of the utility equipment such as the pure water supply and the air conditioning as well as to some of the manufacturing equipment. The burned area is approximately 600m2, which is around 5% of the 12,000m2 clean room area of the first floor N3 Building, and the burned manufacturing equipment was 11 units, which is around 2% of the manufacturing equipment of the N3 Building. The impacts to work-in-process is undetermined and will be investigated in coming week.
- Manufacturing and shipment status
The production at N2 Building (200mm line) and the WT Building (wafter testing) is operating as usual and will continue product shipment. However, the production at N3 Building has temporarily halted. In regard to the N3 Building, we will clean the interior of the clean room and procure replacements of the burned equipment with the support of our partner companies and manufacturing equipment suppliers, and we aim to resume production within one month. Please note that for products manufactured in the N3 Building, although the second floor of the N3 Building was not impacted by the fire, the operation is integrated between the first floor and the second floor; therefore, even if we run the second floor separately, we cannot manufacture or ship products.
- Plans for alternative production
Although approximately two-thirds of the products manufactured within N3 Building can be alternatively produced in-house or in foundries, due to the recent increase in demand for semiconductors, the situation does not allow for all products to be immediately produced alternatively. We will ensure to make considerations to produce as many products as fast as we can.
- Financial impacts
The financial impact from halting the N3 Building production is approximately 17 billion yen per month. We are currently confirming the details and will make further announcements once more information is available.
Renesas will continue to strive for the safety of the community and with the support of the fire department and the police as well as the relevant authorities, we will conduct a thorough investigation to the cause and work to prevent a reoccurrence.
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
