Die and Wafer Banking Benefits
Die and wafer banking is here to stay.
According to Yahoo Finance, the wafer market is projected to grow in value from $11.4 billion in 2022 to $20.6 billion by 2027 — an annual growth rate of 12.5%. The reasons for such growth are easy to see: companies across all major industries who rely on a continuous supply of semiconductors for their builds. With inflation, global supply chain disruption, geopolitical conflicts, natural disasters, raw material shortages, and more combining to create a perfect storm of supply chain risk, many companies are opting instead to purchase the raw die and wafer, bank the die, and assemble their ASICS when needed (application-specific integrated circuit) on their own.
This strategy has several benefits. First, on the acquisition side, it is cost-effective, with raw die and wafer being considerably less than a fully assembled ASIC. Additionally, if properly stored, die and wafer can be kept in optimal condition for many years, allowing the company to purchase large quantities of the material in bulk to future-proof their supply chain. Long after component last time buy dates, rather than committing to a costly redesign or discontinuing the product entirely, the company can maintain steady inventory levels and meet its production schedules. And buy not having to continually re-enter the marketplace, companies can avoid rising costs due to inflation and/or third-party markups.
These benefits do come with drawbacks, however. Due to the extreme moisture sensitivity of raw die and wafer, they must be stored in highly controlled environments — typically within some form of desiccant dry cabinet designed to regulate humidity. Such cabinets are extremely expensive, which inherently gives die and wafer banking a high cost of entry.
In order to make die and wafer banking accessible to any size company, Partstat has developed a die and wafer banking solution that allows customers to enjoy all the benefits of die and wafer while avoiding the high cost of entry. Die banking customers receive full access to Partstat’s industry-leading dry cabinets, which maintain a relative humidity of 0.5%, as well as an unmatched recovery time of only three minutes. This is possible through our use of a groundbreaking compound called zeolite, which can be used to regulate humidity far more effectively and efficiently than nitrogen, which has long been the die and wafer banking standard. For additional protection against all climate elements, our cabinets are also stored in our custom storage vault — the only vault in the supply chain industry designed specific to house electronic components and semiconductors.
Customers can utilize our die and wafer banking solution for as long as their production schedule requires. In one case, we kept a customer’s critical die and wafer for a 10-year term. With our solution, any company of any size or budget can have access to this strategy. With costs continuing to rise and supply chain risks becoming more prevalent than ever, die and wafer banking may be the solution your supply chain needs.