Aug 16, 2001
The phase out plans for MOS-6 and the Bipolar Manufacturing Center (BMC) will affect about 1,200 employees. Many of those employees will be transferred to other jobs, however some job losses are expected, Motorola said.
"This decision is a continuation of our manufacturing renewal process to improve asset management by investing in advanced technologies and consolidating our older production facilities," said Chris Belden, corporate vice president and director of Technology & Manufacturing, in a prepared statement.
"At the same time we are phasing out manufacturing at the Mesa site, we plan to expand production at our MOS-12 facility in Chandler (AZ) and CS-1 facility in Tempe (AZ). Depending upon business conditions, this should enable us to transfer a majority of the Mesa employees to other jobs."
Belden noted that some devices now being manufactured in the Mesa facility will be transferred to other Motorola sites, while other devices will be placed on end-of-life schedules.
BMC makes bipolar products for a broad range of businesses, including automotive customers, and is expected to phase out production over the next 18 months. MOS-6, which is scheduled to phase out production over the next 30 months, makes radio frequency (RF) products for wireless communications and infrastructure customers.
Motorola purchased the Mesa site in 1967 and began wafer fabrication in Bipolar-1 two years later. Other fabrication lines were added over the next 12 years as demand grew, with MOS-6 placed into production in 1981. The three bipolar lines were consolidated into the Bipolar Manufacturing Center in 1998
