ASML supplier NTS Group opens Singapore plant

NTS Group, a Dutch-based maker of “mechatronic” equipment used by semiconductor firms including neighbouring giant ASML, on Friday opened a major new assembly and manufacturing plant in Singapore.

Mechatronics integrate mechanical, electronics and software systems. NTS is known as a supplier of highly complex systems used in metrology, where top names include Lam Research, Applied Materials, Thermo Fisher and ASML, among others.

NTS, based in Eindhoven, is the latest of a series of Dutch semiconductor industry firms to add manufacturing capacity in Asian countries outside China following tension with the U.S.

The company also has assembly capacity in Shanghai, and recently opened a U.S. office in Milpitas, California.

“The global demand for ultra-precision components and modules continues to rise,” said the company’s new CEO Frans van Lierop in a statement. Van Lierop, a former ASML supply chain manager, took the top job at NTS in May.

The company did not disclose the size of the investment, but a spokesperson said the plant is 20,000 square metres and employs 300 people.