TOKYO, Japan, 2021 ―Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today issued a summary of updates regarding the occurrence of a fire on March 19, 2021 at 2:47 am at part of the processes in the N3 Building (300mm line) of Naka Factory (located in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture) of Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiary of Renesas. The fire was extinguished on the same day on March 19, 2021 at 8:12 am.
Renesas have released three press releases regarding the fire, and this notice summarizes the information published thus far as of Monday, March 22, 2021 at 8:00 am regarding the facts of the fire and the financial impacts to the company.
Reference: * There has been no further updates since UPDATE 3.
Friday, March 19, 2021: Notice Regarding the Semiconductor Manufacturing Factory (Naka Factory) Fire
Saturday, March 20, 2021: UPDATE 2 - Notice Regarding the Semiconductor Manufacturing Factory (Naka Factory) Fire
Sunday, March 21, 2021: UPDATE 3 - Notice Regarding the Semiconductor Manufacturing Factory (Naka Factory) Fire
- Location of the fire
First floor of the N3 Building (300mm line), Naka Factory, Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
- Time and date of the fire and the current situation (the updates have been underlined)
>Friday, March 19, 2021 at 2:47 am: Fire outbreak; Contacted the fire department, police and relevant authorities
Friday, March 19, 2021 at 8:12 am: Fire department confirmed the fire to be extinguished
Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 9:00 am: Began site investigation led by the police and the fire department
Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 1:00 pm: Site investigation ended
- Cause of the fire
After the site investigation led by the police and the fire department on March 20, we confirmed the cause of the fire to be the plating equipment, one of the processes within the N3 building (300mm line). The casing of the equipment and the plating tank have relatively low resistance to heat, and the equipment ignited due to overcurrent. However, the cause of the overcurrent and the reason for the ignition is currently being investigated.
- Impacts
While we confirmed no casualties to the employees and no damages to the building, we confirmed damages to some of the utility equipment such as the pure water supply and the air conditioning as well as to some of the manufacturing equipment. The burned area is approximately 600m2, which is around 5% of the 12,000m2 clean room area of the first floor N3 Building, and the burned manufacturing equipment was 11 units, which is around 2% of the manufacturing equipment of the N3 Building. The impacts to work-in-process is undetermined and will be investigated in coming week.
- Manufacturing and shipment status
The production at N2 Building (200mm line) and the WT Building (wafer testing) is operating as usual and will continue product shipment. However, the production at N3 Building has temporarily halted. In regard to the N3 Building, we will clean the interior of the clean room and procure replacements of the burned equipment with the support of our partner companies and manufacturing equipment suppliers, and we aim to resume production within one month.
- Plans for alternative production
Although approximately two-thirds of the products manufactured within N3 Building can be alternatively produced in-house or in foundries, due to the recent increase in demand for semiconductors, the situation does not allow for all products to be immediately produced alternatively. We will ensure to make considerations to produce as many products as fast as we can.
- Financial impacts
The financial impact from halting the N3 Building production is approximately 17 billion yen per month. We are currently confirming the details and will make further announcements once more information is available.
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.