TSMC Successfully Drives the Localization of Photoresist Supply Chain, Reaching Over NT$1 Billion of Annual Output

2022/04/06

Daniel K.T. Kuo

Rondy Huang

Hsiao-Yin Lin

L.W. Teng

Due to capacity expansion, TSMC's demand for materials has grown. To ensure the stable supply of , the key material in the process, TSMC created an innovative business model by renting out exposure equipment to photoresist suppliers in order to reduce their investment costs and encourage them to build factories in Taiwan. In 2021, the first Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) photoresist plant in Taiwan was established. As of April 2022, the plant has produced more than 1 thousand bottles of EUV photoresist, creating over NT$100 million of business value and NT$1 billion of output a year. This allows TSMC to revitalize the usage of corporate assets and march toward the prospects of industrial symbiosis.

Material suppliers are important business partners of TSMC in achieving corporate sustainability. The innovative business model allowed us to localize the photoresist supply chain and construct the first EUV photoresist factory in Taiwan.

- J.K. Lin, Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Materials Management & Risk Management at TSMC

Bring New Life to Used Equipment for the Localization of Photoresist Production

Photoresist is a crucial material in . Due to the high cost for owning and maintaining the exposure equipment which are used to verify the quality of photoresist, very few photoresist suppliers are willing to set up production lines in Taiwan. To solve this issue and develop a local supply chain, the Material Supply Chain Management Division at TSMC cooperated with the Operation Resources Planning Division and Fab 12A to identified equipment to rent out to photoresist supplier. This would reduce suppliers’ upfront investment. In 2020 TSMC succeeded in inviting photoresist suppliers to construct a factory in Taiwan, which not merely reduced the production cycle from 28 days to 17 days, but decreased 18% of carbon emission during air freight as well. Besides, producing photoresist locally created more than NT$1 billion in annual production output and effectively lowered the risk of importing and the associated expenses.

TSMC Drives the Localization of Photoresist Supply Chain

TSMC successfully advanced the localization of the photoresist supply chain with this innovative business model. In the future, we will continue replicating such an achievement and consider creating an equipment renting platform in the fourth quarter of 2022. Through revitalizing the value of different types of equipment and sharing these resources with our suppliers, the promise of responsible supply chain can be realized.