Heptagon establishes micro-optics production in Singapore
Heptagon, a manufacturer of wafer-scale micro-optics, is establishing a 20,000 sq-ft volume manufacturing facility and regional headquarters in Singapore. This facility, which will be operational in July 2007, is part of a wholly-owned subsidiary Heptagon Micro Optics (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
Chuck Milligan, Heptagon’s CEO, says that "exponential growth" in the demand for the company's products can only be met with the opening of an additional, dedicated high-volume manufacturing facility.
"Heptagon has a truly unique value proposition; glass-based wafer-scale optics which are lead-free reflow and Telcordia compatible, yet ideal for high-volume applications which have until now only been addressable via much less robust injection-molded plastic," said Milligan.
According to Milligan, Singapore provides a great opportunity not only to multiply Heptagon's manufacturing capacity but also to establish a regional headquarters for Asia. "Through great support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), our investment made business sense and our choice of Singapore as our regional headquarters was much easier. Thanks to the EDB we have been able to find a suitable facility, recruiting a highly-skilled work-force with great experience in semiconductor manufacturing and a culture of extremely high quality standards."
Chang Chin Nam, EDB’s Director of Precision Engineering cluster, said, "We are happy that Heptagon has opted to site their manufacturing and regional headquarters in Singapore. Their decision will enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as the Asian centre for the development and manufacturing of advanced complex optics."
Heptagon Micro Optics Singapore will be run by Heng Hoon Cheng, a veteran in wafer-scale manufacturing, with over 20 years of engineering and operations management experience in the electronics and semiconductor industries. HH joins Heptagon from Epcos Pte Ltd., a German company manufacturing Surface Acoustic Wave filters in Singapore.
Heptagon, a privately held company, designs and manufactures advanced micro-optics products for OEM suppliers. Heptagon’s components are used in many applications including CMOS imaging, LED lighting, display, optical communications, consumer electronics and industrial optics. Heptagon’s primary operations are in Switzerland and Singapore, and it has a US subsidiary in Silicon Valley, California, USA.