Ventex, the world's premier supplier of refurbished Canon and Nikon lithography steppers, announced today that it has recently completed a major refurbishment project for a tier-one chip manufacturer in Malaysia. The project included the full refurbishment of three advanced Canon i-line lithography tools in Ventex's state-of-the-art refurbishment facility in San Jose, California. Upon completion of the refurbishments, the Canon tools were shipped to Malaysia, where they were installed and qualified by Ventex's field service and process engineering teams.

All three tools are currently in production. Ventex will support these tools from its Customer Service Center in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

'We are very pleased that a major, tier-one chip manufacturer selected Ventex for this refurbishment order,' said Jay Bukant, Vice-President of Operations. 'It shows that the industry has a high regard for Ventex's refurbishment expertise and recognizes the strategic value of a refurbishment provider in managing costs.'

'We are also particularly pleased that another Asian fab has decided to work with Ventex. We believe our market share will continue to expand in this region as fabs search for ways to remain competitive,' added Bukant.

The successful awarding and completion of this Malaysian project is the latest milestone in a strategic growth plan kicked off by the company six months ago to meet increasing demand for its products and services. Other successfully accomplished milestones include adding several industry veterans to the management team, the establishment of a Customer Service Center in Taiwan, and a product portfolio expansion to include refurbished Nikon lithography stepper support, in addition to Ventex's established competence in refurbished Canon lithography stepper support.