STRATEGY
FOCUS 2 :
Electronics
Seizing the growing semiconductor market
with our group-wide strengths
In Japan, major semiconductor manufacturers are building new/additional plants to promote digitalization and domestic production of semiconductors.
The Air Water Group has a track record of supplying on-site gas for semiconductors with the “V1” nitrogen gas generator, pioneering in the industry since 1980’s. Especially in recent years, we have continued to invest heavily in on-site gas supply, particularly to major semiconductor manufacturers.
In addition to gases, our products for the semiconductors have expanded through M&As, by which we have more products to enhance their production and technology; including specialty gases and chemicals, supply equipment, gas purification and exhaust gas treatment equipment, and thermal control equipment for the manufacturing equipment. Among them, electronics-related sales doubled from about 45 billion yen in 2010 to about 95 billion yen in 2022.
Then in April 2023, the electronics business across the Group was reorganized into two operating companies with clearly defined roles in “gas” and “equipment,” and shifted to a structure aimed at more effectively utilizing group resources and expanding business.
Looking forward, we target 150 billion yen scale by 2030 with our comprehensive strength in on-site gas supply to semiconductor manufacturers and related fields.
Air Water Group’s comprehensive strengths for the Electronics
With our competitive edge in the semiconductor industry developed over years, we will seize the greater demand for electronics-related products and keep growing.
Edge 1 : Nitrogen gas generator “V1”
Gas Centers around Japan
L: Hiroshima, R: Nagasaki, B: Iwate (WIP)
In the 1980s, we developed an innovative nitrogen gas generator, the V1, which did not use an expansion turbine, and also pioneered the industry’s first “total gas system.” It is to build our own plants in customers’ factories and provide the total support including gas production, supply, monitoring, and maintenance, which became the de facto standard model for the supply of nitrogen to semiconductor factories. We have installed more than 200 of them, mainly for semiconductor manufacturers and other electronics-related users. Moreover, for large-scale semiconductor plants such as DRAM and CMOS sensors, we have the expertise and track record of stable supply through our five Gas Centers in Japan, which outperforms the competitors. We are accelerating investment in gas supply plants to accommodate more semiconductor manufacturing plants, as well as strengthening our engineering system to build the plants.
Edge 2 : Backup system with VSU network
Iwate Ekisan Co.
We ensure a stable supply of industrial gases required for semiconductor manufacturing at any time. As a backup system for this purpose, we have deployed liquefied gas production plants called “VSU” at 22 locations nationwide to strongly support the supply of gas for electronics.
Edge 3 : Total support for semiconductors
Specialty chemicals, supply equipment
Purifier, detoxifier
Hazardous material storage
Not only gas supply, we also provide comprehensive support for semiconductor manufacturing, including sales of materials and equipment for medicine and chemical raw materials, as well as piping work and logistics. We have warehouses close to semiconductor plants that can handle high-pressure gases and hazardous materials to provide one-stop management of manufacturing materials from procurement to supply. We have also developed a materials management service, in which qualified personnel are stationed in the plants to undertake all container exchange and material supply equipment inspections.
Opening our new electronics-related base in Kumamoto
We are launching a new business complex base in Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture, which specializes in electronics-related business by the summer of 2024. This new site will have warehouses to store specialty chemicals, specialty gases, and basic chemicals to meet the growing demand for semiconductor materials. In the future, we are looking to build a gas plant to supply gas on-site to nearby semiconductor plants.