BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands - August 5, 2003 - ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI and Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam: ASM) announced today that it's subsidiaries ASM Europe B.V. and ASM Japan K.K. have acquired ISO 14001 certification. The company's other manufacturing facility in Phoenix, USA is targeted for certification later in 2003.
ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), established by the International Organization for Standardization. The standard stimulates organizations to minimize the impact their activities have on the environment and encourages continuous improvement of their environmental performance.
"Receiving this certification is very important to ASM," said Dr. Han Westendorp, Chief Operating Officer, Front-End Operations. "It shows our commitment to protect the environment in which we work. This milestone is part of ASM's overall plan to have all of ASM's Front-End manufacturing facilities ISO 14001 certified by the end of this year. "
This certification is also fully in line with our global environmental mission statement that states that 'the employees and management of ASM Front-End Operations are dedicated to being custodians of the environment by maintaining and improving operations in an environmentally responsible manner'. Like our safety program, our environmental program is one that relies on global policy and expectations with local implementation and management."
ASM Europe B.V. develops and manufactures the award winning Advance® 400 Series Vertical Batch Chemical Vapor Deposition / Diffusion and Single-Wafer Levitor® Rapid Thermal Process systems. ASM Japan K.K. designs and manufactures Aurora®, a low-k dielectric film with excellent characteristics for which it has received many design-wins. The Eagle® and Dragon(TM) PECVD tools, which are designed to meet the challenges of third generation copper solutions, are also manufactured in the Japan facility.
- more -
About ASM
ASM International N.V. is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International is a global company, serving one of the most important and demanding industries in the world. The Company possesses a strong technological base, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, a competent and qualified workforce and a highly trained, strategically distributed support network. ASM International's subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for wafer processing, assembly and packaging through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock shares trade on Nasdaq (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASM's web site at http://www.asm.com
# # #
Safe Harbor Statement under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements regarding orders, earnings development and the effects of research and new products on ASM's future, and other matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to economic conditions in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, risk factors related to litigation and other risks indicated in filings from time to time with the SEC and Stock Exchange Authorities.
ASM, Advance, Levitor, Aurora, and Eagle are registered trademarks and Dragon is a trademark of ASM International N.V.
