The engineering team at a global semiconductor company implemented a packaging design change for CPU shipping trays. The design optimized the number of CPU's in a box and introduced an industry breakthrough by replacing the expensive standard tray with a lighter weight solution. These new systems provide several advantages over the previous packaging method:

• 40% lighter trays
• Reduced overall packaging waste
• Less expensive than standard tray
• Requires no special handling to recycle

This innovative switch from injection-molded plastic to thermoformed (PET) plastic is yielding millions of dollars in annual savings and a reduction over 1.5 million pounds of plastic materials annually.

The trays are designed to support product flow from initial delivery of substrates, through the multiple steps of fabrication, and then for delivery to customers. The company is now working on the closed-loop processes that will enable the empty trays to be collected from customers, de-contaminated, and reused.

Top and bottom sides of tray are functional, with tightly-controlled cell dimensions. These thermoformed trays are designed to interface with specific automation equipment and work in standard JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) tray handlers & processing equipment. This requires extremely tight tolerances of +/- .005" for form, trim and functional features on top and bottom sides of tray.

Strategic Partner: Precision-Forming LLC