Cowintech said on Tuesday it has signed a supply contract with a South Korean semiconductor company to provide robots and automation systems for wafer test processes. The supplies will be delivered to domestic semiconductor fabs. It did not disclose the counterparty or contract size, citing business confidentiality.

Under the contract, Cowintech will supply robots and automation systems that handle semiconductor wafers during the wafer test process. Cowintech has previously supplied equipment for transferring semiconductor wafers and MLCCs (multilayer ceramic capacitors) to major domestic semiconductor lines. The company applied cleanroom-focused design and particle-minimising structures to its semiconductor process systems based on such references.

Demand for automation systems is also rising as demand for AI semiconductors increases and expansion investment centred on high-performance memory grows. Cowintech explained that adoption of its robot systems is increasing rapidly amid the trend. The company said it will focus on securing order volume to respond to the AI semiconductor expansion cycle, based on its track record and technology in supplying AMRs (autonomous mobile robots) and AGVs.

A Cowintech official said, "As robot adoption is rapidly expanding across next-generation semiconductor processes, we are pushing to commercialise an AMR combined with an industrial six-axis robot and an OHMS (Overhead Hoist transport Mobile Shuttle) that combines mobile robots with an overhead transfer logistics system (OHT)."

The official added, "Our in-house OHMS is characterised by converting existing OHT, which transfers wafers on overhead rails, into a mobile robot to improve inter-process transfer efficiency and secure flexibility." The official said, "We completed development at the end of last year and are entering full-scale commercialisation from this year, moving to secure orders from mass-production lines, so we expect results in that area as well."