Hsinchu, Taiwan
AUO Corporation ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO), today announced the arrival of ITO Sputtering System for its Generation 6 Color Filter Fab touched-down today at The Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport at 8:00 pm. Due to the immensity of the machine, it took the services of the world's largest cargo carrier, The Antonov AN-225, as well as a Boeing 747-400 cargo freighter for its safe delivery – a first in aircraft freighter history.
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AUO's first batch of G6 color filter machine delivered is a historical record for Taiwan. This fully automated vertical deposition ITO Sputtering System is one of only three presently available in the world. The system's gigantic size of 40 meters in length and 10 meters in width is tailored-made to process AUO's Sixth Generation glass substrates of 1500mm x 1850mm. Due to its huge mass, the machine had to be dissembled into 34 separate crates, which required 2 freight cargo carriers for delivery. Because the highest section of the packaged system came to over 4 meters in height, it required the services of the world's largest cargo plane, The Antonov AN-225, for its direct delivery from Germany to Taiwan. This is a historical first for the Antonov to fly commercially into Asia. In addition to the Russian air freighter, to complete the delivery of the whole system, it required a second aircraft, China Airlines Boeing 747-400 Cargo Freight, where each aircraft carried 15 and 19 crates respectively. AUO has arranged 18 freightliner trucks as land transport after the crates were unloaded from the aircrafts in Taiwan, with the motorcade estimated to stretch the length of 1.5 kilometers. As a safety precaution, AUO has especially arranged for a special police escort for the remaining land transport, as it will take place during the evening hours. It is estimated that the aircraft unloading and delivery process for the cargo, from the airport to AUO's G6 Fab in TaiChung Science Park, may take up to 24 hours.
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AU Optronics Generation Six Fab. is situated in the TaiChung Science Park. Due to its enormous capacity, the volume of steel structures needed for the contstruction exceeded the amount used to build the Taipei 101 Building – known to be world's tallest building. After just ground-breaking on July 28th 2003, within a short span of time, the construction for the Company's latest clean-room fab had already commenced in March and equipment began to move in by July of this year. It is estimated that by the first quarter of 2005 AUO's G6 Fab will begin production – a quarter earlier than previously scheduled. The scale of plant, the speed of construction, and the delivery of the machine have all been a first for Taiwan. This goes to show AUO's strength in setting up new facilities with speed and accurate execution. With AU Optronics' " Race With Time" spirit, the Company has vigorously established its next generation technology facility and has brought forth development for the central Taiwan region, while uplifting Taiwan's international competitiveness in the global TFT-LCD Industry. AUO TaiChung expands over 60 hectares of land in the Science Park. Its first phase of construction included TFT-LCD Fab (L10), Color Filter Fab (C10), Module plant (M10), and staff dormitories, which covered 20 hectares with a total investment of over NTD 80 billion. The Company's G6 ( Fab L10) mother glass size takes up 1500mm x 1850mm with expected capacity of 90k glass substrates per month.