Upgrading or Adding Gas Delivery Systems More Economical Thanks to Recession
The recent economic downturn surprisingly means a boon for the high tech production facility. The many Fab closures we have seen in the US have produced a glut of process equipment that has become available through various tool refurbishers. Additionally, since process work is slow in many areas, contractors are bidding tool installs at surprising low rates. When it comes to gas delivery systems, costs have dropped here as well. OEM suppliers are willing to sell at reduced margins to move excess inventory or get sales on the books, and second source suppliers of new or surplus gas delivery systems are providing additional savings over the OEM’s pricing.
Finding quality equipment, contractors and gas delivery systems has never been more affordable, giving manufactures more leverage to deal with their own economic difficulties and survive these challenging market times. It’s a matter of using circumstances in the market to work for you and taking advantage of bargains on products such as gas delivery equipment readily available in the industry. With such a large cost savings readily available, buying from a surplus or second source suppliers costs a fraction of what you’d pay through an original equipment manufacturer.
Upgrading equipment or adding a new chamber or process tool in today’s market is an excellent way to get the equipment you need at a severe discount. The US has seen an unprecedented number of Fab closures which has placed a plethora of equipment on the used or surplus market. One must be careful however to know the condition of this equipment before purchasing something that may be obsolete or require significant time and money to fix. Process tools are available either “As Is” or through a qualified refurbisher of OEM equipment. While purchasing may save you a significant amount of money initially over purchasing refurbished, the costs of making a poorly decommissioned tool produce the results you desire may heavily outweigh the cost savings. Nowhere is this truer than with gas delivery equipment.
If one searches the internet for gas delivery equipment several sites will come up. There are always the new manufacturers. These companies produce new equipment at a premium price. A gas cabinet, for example, through an OEM will run from $25,000 to $50,000 depending how it is configured. On the other end of the spectrum is ebay. A gas cabinet on ebay can run as little as $1500. This is a huge price spread for the same type of equipment and one might think they are getting a great deal buying a gas delivery system as a fraction the cost of new, but be forewarned, a cheap gas delivery system is most often plagued with issues, and may be unusable. Corrosion, obsolete or non-reconfigurable software, missing parts, and even poor packaging for shipment cause many a buyer to feel the pain of the “As Is” purchase. An alternative to saving money over buying new is to use a reconditioned gas delivery system from a reputable company that performs the reconditioning to a documented standard.
Where a reputable company differs from an “As-Is” seller, with respect to a gas delivery system is the reputable seller buys cabinets that are capable of being reconditioned. A trip to the facility with the equipment allows for inspection of the gas delivery system before purchase. Because of this, controllers work, corrosion isn’t an issue, and all the components are there. If there are problem when that gas delivery system arrives at the company’s location, it is up to them to fix the problem. When you receive your gas delivery system, there is a satisfaction warranty and a start-up procedure that assures all is functioning.
Today’s market conditions allow those with the ability to expand their capacity like never before. Process Tools are cheap; installation has come way down in price and equipment like gas delivery systems are more affordable than ever. However, there are a lot of bad deals out there and nobody wants to get stuck with something they can’t use. A little research ahead of time, coupled with a good dose of common sense will keep the prudent buyer from getting greedy and subsequently burned in the process. Buy smart and you will reap the benefits of a very attractive market for process upgrades.