Globalfoundries, one of the largest contract makers of semiconductors in the world, has said that its Fab 8 will commence operations a year from now and the company will continue to expand production capacities of existing factories. In addition, Globalfoundries  has announced new executives changes.

Ajit Manocha, chief executive officer of Globalfoundries, on Tuesday affirmed the company’s intent to significantly ramp capacity in Germany, the U.S. and Singapore, with additional investments in all three facilities in 2012 to serve customers in both mainstream and leading-edge capabilities. Fab 8 in Malta, New York, continues to install new tools and begins operations in December 2012. Currently employing about 1000 people at the site, Fab 8 will have some 1500 employees with an annual payroll of approximately $190 million by the end of 2012.

“Globalfoundries will continue to seek out world-class talent to help drive the company to the next level. As we build on momentum to reshape the foundry landscape, we will accelerate our operational excellence and boost our strategic value to customers,” said Mr. Manocha.

Globalfoundries on Tuesday also appointed:

• Daniel Durn as chief financial officer. Most recently, Mr. Durn served as executive director of the investment and strategy unit of the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), the shareholder of Globalfoundries. Prior to that, Mr. Durn was a specialist in mergers, acquisitions and IPO.
• KC Ang as head of customer engineering and quality while retaining his responsibility for Fab 8 in New York.
• Gregg Bartlett as chief technology officer.
• Suresh Venkatesan as chief of technology development (TD) organization on an interim basis.

The appointments of Mr. Bartlett and Venkatesan are part of an ongoing effort by Ajit Manocha to align Globalfoundries' structure to better meet the needs of its customers. Separating technology strategy and its roadmap from technology development – and better coordinating TD with manufacturing operations – will enhance time to market and operational excellence, according to the company.

“Our customers want us to be the preferred choice for them, so we are taking a hard look at our structure to ensure we are organized to meet their needs. As we continue to put in place world-class talent to drive our performance, we want to make sure our technology strategy and market opportunity are working in parallel with our execution,” said Mr. Manocha.

Tags: Globalfoundries, Semiconductor, 300mm