News: Suppliers
20 October 2021
Phononic announces full customer and manufacturing qualification at Fabrinet
Phononic Inc of Durham, NC, USA (which provides solid-state thermoelectric cooling and heating technology) has announced full customer qualification of manufacturing operations at Thailand-based Fabrinet Co Ltd (which provides OEMs with optical packaging and precision optical, electro-mechanical and electronic manufacturing services). The partnership dramatically ramps up Phononic’s global manufacturing capability, allowing for increased growth and revenue despite global supply chain bottlenecks that have impacted numerous industries worldwide.
Despite COVID-related travel restrictions between US-based Phononic and Fabrinet’s manufacturing facilities in Thailand, the firms succeeded in gaining full customer qualification in just over a year. Phononic’s highly automated and readily transferable chip manufacturing process, coupled with Fabrinet’s manufacturing capabilities and speed-to-market, enabled them to scale with customers in an exceedingly stressed global manufacturing environment.
The expansion allows Phononic to continue delivering sustainable cooling solutions for its key target sectors: optical communications and light detection & ranging (LiDAR); cold chain fulfillment; retail merchandizing in grocery; and product licensing initiatives in life sciences, healthcare and climate control.
“The world is demanding the sustainable cooling solutions that we provide,” says chief revenue officer Kevin Granucci. “Fabrinet gives us that critical, predictable global access to state-of-the art manufacturing while stateside we can continue to focus on our innovation pipeline. Early on in 2020, we forecast strong and robust global demand for our solid-state solutions. By aligning just a year later with one of the most respected manufacturing partners in the world, the message is clear: we’re open and ready for business,” he adds.
“Fabrinet excels in the production of high-complexity semiconductor products,” claims Edward Archer, executive VP, sales & marketing, at Fabrinet. “Our advanced optical and electronic packaging and precision manufacturing capabilities were a natural fit for Phononic’s exacting specifications, and we are proud of our ability to operate at speed under such extraordinary conditions in which most of the work was handled virtually across continents.”
As a result of the partnership, Phononic says that it can also meet demand and strengthen its commercial position in the Asia-Pacific (APAC). Optical communications components companies based in the region will be able to leverage the firm’s in-continent expansion for thermoelectric devices in optical components for data centers, high-speed coherent applications, as well as 5G mobile and access networks (FTTx). Phononic R&D, product development and production will continue at the firm’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Durham, NC, USA.
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