FEI Co., Hillsboro, Ore., announces the opening of a new technology center in the industrial estate of Cernovická Terasa, Brno, Czech Republic. With a surface area of nearly 300,000 ft2, it is the largest technology plant built this year in the Czech Republic. The larger facility will employ about 600 people and produce approximately 60% of FEI’s entire electron microscope production. (Photo shows cross-section of a silicon wafer by an SEM.) FEI invested approximately $38 million in the new building, and the construction took 18 months to complete.
“While FEI has had operations in Brno for almost 20 years now, we are pleased to expand our manufacturing, laboratory and office capacity in the region.,” says Jiří Očadlík, director-general of FEI’s Czech Republic facility. “The new building is unique, not only because of its size, but also because of the state-of-the-art production facilities and pleasant working environment for our employees.”
“The new facility is an enormous success for Brno, as this investment opens the door to further growth in the area, as well as expanding the scope of FEI’s business activities in Brno. In addition to producing the high-end microscopes in the Brno facility, we are also testing and servicing them before they are shipped to customers world-wide.”
