RIO RANCHO, N.M.-
Intel Corp. is retooling a factory at its Rio Rancho plant for Intel’s new 45 nanometer manufacturing process, which the company calls one of the biggest advancements in fundamental transistor design in 40 years.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said Monday it will invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion in its Rio Rancho site to retool Fab 11X for production on the next-generation process, 45nm for short.
Fab 11X will be the company’s fourth factory slated to use the process. Production in New Mexico will start in the second half of next year, Intel said.
“Our new 45 nanometer process represents one of the most significant manufacturing breakthroughs in decades and we believe that putting it in our factory in New Mexico will help us deliver the best possible products for our customers,” Paul Otellini, Intel’s president and chief executive officer, said Monday in announcing the switch for Fab11X.
The Rio Rancho plant employs just under 5,000 people.
Liz Shipley, a spokeswoman for the plant, said the retooling is not expected to create any new jobs. Asked whether the new process might mean fewer jobs, she said, “We’re not announcing any layoffs at this time.”
“It will take advantage of the skills of our existing work force,” she said. “It’s an upgrade to the facility, a capital upgrade only.”
No construction start date has been set for the retooling, Shipley said.
The Rio Rancho plant has operated for 27 years. Fab 11X, which began production in October 2002, was Intel’s first 300mm, or 12-inch high-volume manufacturing facility. It also was the company’s first fully automated, high-volume factory producing 300mm wafers.
Currently, Fab 11X manufactures 90nm computer chips on 300mm wafers. The Rio Rancho plant’s other facility, Fab 11, manufactures 200mm wafers, Shipley said.
“We have worked hard to make New Mexico a center for new technology and this announcement is $1 billion worth of proof that our efforts are working,” Gov. Bill Richardson said.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the retooling ensures that Intel will have major presence in New Mexico and a major impact on its economy for years to come.
The company said it is on track to begin 45nm production at other plants later this year.
Initial production of 45nm products will be done at an Oregon plant. Intel also is building two factories that will use the 45nm process—a $3 billion factory in Chandler, Ariz., and a $3.5 billion plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel.
Intel has 1,000 employees at a Colorado Springs, Colo., facility, but their future became uncertain last month when the company announced it would sell the 1.4 million-square-foot complex and could close it if no buyer is found.
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