Global Manufacturing at Intel

August 8, 2024 Last Updated
January 1, 2023 Published
A high-tech laboratory with several workstations equipped with multiple monitors and computers. People in white protective suits are seated, working on the computers, surrounded by industrial equipment and cables on a clean, gray floor.

Production and cleanroom facilities at work in Intel’s D1D/D1X plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, in April 2017. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Intel manufacturing operates at a mega-scale worldwide.

Squeezing billions of tiny transistors onto ever-smaller computer chips requires one of the most complex manufacturing processes humans have devised. A fully equipped new fab costs about $10 billion and takes 6,000 construction workers about three years to complete. Intel’s manufacturing operations operate at a mega-scale worldwide, requiring a global supply chain that stretches across multiple continents.

News

Global Investments

Infographic: Global Investments Announced Since 2021

Download full size infographic

B-roll Video

» All Intel Manufacturing, Office and Construction B-Roll Videos

Manufacturing in Vietnam

Intel Manufacturing in Vietnam (B-Roll)

Intel Manufacturing in Vietnam (B-Roll)

B-roll video footage shows the Vietnam Assembly Test (VNAT) facility in April 2023. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Download “Intel Manufacturing in Vietnam (B-Roll)”

Manufacturing in Malaysia

Intel Manufacturing in Penang, Malaysia (B-Roll)

Intel Manufacturing in Penang, Malaysia (B-Roll)

Video footage from April 2023 shows the Intel Penang Assembly Test (PGAT) facility in Penang, Malaysia. It includes Intel employees inside the facility and video of Intel Core Ultra processors, code-named Meteor Lake. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Download video: “Intel Manufacturing in Penang, Malaysia (B-Roll)”

Manufacturing in Oregon, USA

Interior of an Intel office featuring a large digital wall display with various images and a prominent Intel logo on a blue background. The space has a modern architectural design with wooden accents and ample natural light.
Modern building with a glass facade, showing Intel signage. A pedestrian bridge connects two sections above. The entrance has stairs leading up, and the sky is clear and bright.
A large industrial building with multiple sections and glass windows under a blue sky with scattered clouds. A grassy area is in the foreground, and a covered walkway connects parts of the building. A construction crane is visible to the left.
Technicians in white cleanroom suits work on laptops in a high-tech laboratory setting, surrounded by advanced equipment and machinery. The environment is sterile, emphasizing precision and safety.
Workers in white protective suits and masks walk through a high-tech cleanroom filled with machinery and equipment, suggesting a sterile environment for manufacturing or research purposes.
People in full-body protective suits with masks walk through a high-tech cleanroom facility. The environment is bright, sterile, and equipped with advanced machinery.
A person in cleanroom attire walks through a high-tech manufacturing facility, surrounded by advanced machinery and equipment. The setting is bright and organized, reflecting a controlled, sterile environment typical of semiconductor manufacturing.
Interior of an Intel office featuring a large digital wall display with various images and a prominent Intel logo on a blue background. The space has a modern architectural design with wooden accents and ample natural light.
Modern building with a glass facade, showing Intel signage. A pedestrian bridge connects two sections above. The entrance has stairs leading up, and the sky is clear and bright.
A large industrial building with multiple sections and glass windows under a blue sky with scattered clouds. A grassy area is in the foreground, and a covered walkway connects parts of the building. A construction crane is visible to the left.
Technicians in white cleanroom suits work on laptops in a high-tech laboratory setting, surrounded by advanced equipment and machinery. The environment is sterile, emphasizing precision and safety.
Workers in white protective suits and masks walk through a high-tech cleanroom filled with machinery and equipment, suggesting a sterile environment for manufacturing or research purposes.
People in full-body protective suits with masks walk through a high-tech cleanroom facility. The environment is bright, sterile, and equipped with advanced machinery.
A person in cleanroom attire walks through a high-tech manufacturing facility, surrounded by advanced machinery and equipment. The setting is bright and organized, reflecting a controlled, sterile environment typical of semiconductor manufacturing.

» Download all images (ZIP, 37 MB)

Manufacturing Infographic

» Download full infographic

Automated Material-Handling System

Travel Intel’s Autonomous Superhighway

It has more than 27 miles of multilevel thoroughfares on which 1,700 autonomous vehicles shuttle Intel’s most precious cargo. It’s the automated material-handling system – or AMHS – at Intel’s D1 factory in Hillsboro, Oregon. Intel runs overhead transport systems like this in every one of its six chip fabs worldwide. The boxes scooting along on the overhead tracks are front-opening unified pods – or FOUPs – that carry as many as 25 wafers, each containing hundreds of Intel® chips, on their weekslong fabrication journey starting as blank silicon discs.

Oregon’s wafer superhighway connects nine buildings, including the D1X and D1D factories. The two factories together are a little larger than 12 U.S. football fields. Take a quick 2-minute tour around Oregon’s D1 factory — captured before pandemic recommendations for social distancing took effect — to learn more about what AMHS leader Mutaz Haddadin calls the “heartbeat and blood flow of the fab.”

» View video: Intel’s Automated Superhighway: ‘The Heartbeat and Blood Flow of the Fab’

Manufacturing in New Mexico, USA

Intel Advanced Packaging in New Mexico’s Fab 9, Manufacturing in Fab 11X (B-Roll)

Download video: “Intel Advanced Packaging in New Mexico’s Fab 9, Manufacturing in Fab 11X (B-Roll)”

A group of people standing on a stage during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. One person is cutting the ribbon with large scissors. Everyone is smiling, and there are two large projection screens in the background.
A woman speaks on a stage with an Intel podium. Five seated people watch her. The room has large windows and blue curtains, with balloons and a screen visible on the left.
A person in a cleanroom suit and gloves holds up a silicon wafer in a laboratory. The wafer has a reflective surface with intricate patterns. The background is softly lit in yellow tones.
A large industrial complex with numerous pipes, buildings, and cranes under a clear blue sky. Mountains are visible in the background, providing a natural backdrop to the bustling industrial activity.
Two individuals in protective suits and goggles work in a lab illuminated with yellow light. They are focused on a large screen, likely engaged in a scientific or technical task.
A person in protective cleanroom attire, including a mask and goggles, peers through a yellow-tinted window. The scene is likely inside a laboratory or a high-tech manufacturing facility.
A close-up of semiconductor manufacturing equipment working on a silicon wafer, with visible electronic components and machinery. Blue and purple lighting highlight the intricate details of the process.
A robotic arm holds a silicon wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. The setting is highly technical and sterile, with metallic surfaces and precision equipment, illustrating advanced technology and automation in action.
Two individuals in white cleanroom suits work on a machine in a lab. They are kneeling and reaching into the equipment, surrounded by high-tech machinery and a blue light. The setting appears to be a scientific or technological environment.
Several technicians in white cleanroom suits and masks walk through a brightly lit laboratory or high-tech facility. The hallway is lined with equipment and control panels.
Gloved hands holding a circular metallic component with intricate internal structures, possibly a part of a mechanical or electronic device, against a blurred yellow background.
A person wearing protective cleanroom attire inspects a silicon wafer under a microscope in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. The room is brightly lit, and the wafer reflects patterns from the overhead lights.
A group of people standing on a stage during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. One person is cutting the ribbon with large scissors. Everyone is smiling, and there are two large projection screens in the background.
A woman speaks on a stage with an Intel podium. Five seated people watch her. The room has large windows and blue curtains, with balloons and a screen visible on the left.
A person in a cleanroom suit and gloves holds up a silicon wafer in a laboratory. The wafer has a reflective surface with intricate patterns. The background is softly lit in yellow tones.
A large industrial complex with numerous pipes, buildings, and cranes under a clear blue sky. Mountains are visible in the background, providing a natural backdrop to the bustling industrial activity.
Two individuals in protective suits and goggles work in a lab illuminated with yellow light. They are focused on a large screen, likely engaged in a scientific or technical task.
A person in protective cleanroom attire, including a mask and goggles, peers through a yellow-tinted window. The scene is likely inside a laboratory or a high-tech manufacturing facility.
A close-up of semiconductor manufacturing equipment working on a silicon wafer, with visible electronic components and machinery. Blue and purple lighting highlight the intricate details of the process.
A robotic arm holds a silicon wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. The setting is highly technical and sterile, with metallic surfaces and precision equipment, illustrating advanced technology and automation in action.
Two individuals in white cleanroom suits work on a machine in a lab. They are kneeling and reaching into the equipment, surrounded by high-tech machinery and a blue light. The setting appears to be a scientific or technological environment.
Several technicians in white cleanroom suits and masks walk through a brightly lit laboratory or high-tech facility. The hallway is lined with equipment and control panels.
Gloved hands holding a circular metallic component with intricate internal structures, possibly a part of a mechanical or electronic device, against a blurred yellow background.
A person wearing protective cleanroom attire inspects a silicon wafer under a microscope in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. The room is brightly lit, and the wafer reflects patterns from the overhead lights.

Download all images (ZIP, 89 MB)

Manufacturing in Arizona, USA

Intel’s Fab 42: A Peek Inside One of the World’s Most Advanced Factories

One of the largest construction projects in the U.S. with almost 6,000 workers is underway on Intel’s Ocotillo campus in Arizona. Intel is outfitting Fab 42 with 1,300 tools (many of them requiring multiple trucks to move), a super overhead highway that zips silicon wafers around all four of the company’s Arizona factories, and a 12-acre water plant that will treat 9.1 million gallons of wastewater a day.

» View video: Intel’s Fab 42: A Peek Inside One of the World’s Most Advanced Factories

» View/Download video: Ocotillo, Arizona, Fab 42 Construction (B-Roll)

» View/Download video: Intel Manufacturing Day 2020 from Arizona’s Fab 42 (B-Roll)

Industry-Leading Glass Substrates

A man with white hair and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt, smiles at the camera while holding a small electronic chip between his fingers. The background features a modern interior with blue walls and orange seating.
A person wearing glasses holds a small computer chip between their fingers, with a blurred face in the background. The chip features a tiny screen displaying text.
Close-up of a computer processor with a metallic surface and a rectangular black section. It has etched numbers and letters along the side, with a visible barcode. The component is isolated on a white background.
newsroom-glass-substrate-6
A person wearing blue gloves holds a large, translucent, golden-hued semiconductor wafer with intricate grid patterns, reflecting light.
A person in a cleanroom suit and goggles holds a large semiconductor wafer in a manufacturing facility. The environment is well-lit with equipment visible in the background.
A worker in a white protective suit and blue gloves stands in front of a large industrial machine inside a factory. The area is brightly lit, with orange panels and metal railings visible. The worker is observing the equipment closely.
A gloved hand holding a tray filled with teal-colored microchips on a yellow background. The intricate details of the microchips are visible, showing circuits and components.
A person in cleanroom attire, including a suit, goggles, and gloves, holds up a large, thin semiconductor wafer in an industrial setting. Computers and lab equipment are visible in the background.
A man with white hair and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt, smiles at the camera while holding a small electronic chip between his fingers. The background features a modern interior with blue walls and orange seating.
A person wearing glasses holds a small computer chip between their fingers, with a blurred face in the background. The chip features a tiny screen displaying text.
Close-up of a computer processor with a metallic surface and a rectangular black section. It has etched numbers and letters along the side, with a visible barcode. The component is isolated on a white background.
newsroom-glass-substrate-6
A person wearing blue gloves holds a large, translucent, golden-hued semiconductor wafer with intricate grid patterns, reflecting light.
A person in a cleanroom suit and goggles holds a large semiconductor wafer in a manufacturing facility. The environment is well-lit with equipment visible in the background.
A worker in a white protective suit and blue gloves stands in front of a large industrial machine inside a factory. The area is brightly lit, with orange panels and metal railings visible. The worker is observing the equipment closely.
A gloved hand holding a tray filled with teal-colored microchips on a yellow background. The intricate details of the microchips are visible, showing circuits and components.
A person in cleanroom attire, including a suit, goggles, and gloves, holds up a large, thin semiconductor wafer in an industrial setting. Computers and lab equipment are visible in the background.

Download all images (ZIP, 50 MB)

Intel Advanced Packaging with Glass Substrates (B-Roll)

Video footage from July 2023 shows glass substrate tools and test units in Intel’s Assembly and Test Technology Development factories in Chandler, Arizona. In the factories, technicians build multi-chip packages that include substrates, computer chips and heat spreaders. Intel is leading the industry with a future generation of substrates made of glass, which will enable power improvements and transistor scaling to continue Moore’s Law. Intel delivers industry-leading packaging breakthroughs that enable performance, cost and scaling benefits for Intel and Intel Foundry Services customers. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Download video “Intel Advanced Packaging with Glass Substrates (B-Roll)”

Intel’s Masking Operation

Intel Mask Operation: An Inside Look at a Critical Manufacturing Step

Around the corner from Intel’s Santa Clara, California, headquarters is an unassuming building that houses a critically important step in the process of manufacturing chips: the Intel Mask Operation.

What’s a mask? It’s a six-by-six-inch piece of quartz, a quarter-inch thick, that is used as the template to print circuitry onto a silicon wafer. To create a mask, engineers use computerized drawings from chip designers that are the blueprints for Intel processors and their billions of transistors.

Without the Intel Mask Operation, the company’s factories in Oregon, Arizona, Ireland and Israel would be unable to create a single processor. It takes 70 flawless masks to print the many layers of a single Intel 14nm die.

» View video:  Intel Mask Operation: An Inside Look at a Critical Manufacturing Step

» View/Download video: The Intel Mask Operation (B-Roll)

Close-up of a semiconductor wafer with a rainbow-colored reflection on its surface, positioned on a clear, rectangular holder against a bluish background.
A person in protective clothing and glasses examines semiconductor equipment in a dimly lit lab, with blurred lights of various colors in the background.
Close-up of a semiconductor wafer with a rainbow-colored reflection on its surface, positioned on a clear, rectangular holder against a bluish background.
A person in protective clothing and glasses examines semiconductor equipment in a dimly lit lab, with blurred lights of various colors in the background.

» Download all images (ZIP, 7 MB)

Additional Information

Related Posts

News ManufacturingA close-up view of a silicon wafer with intricate blue circuitry patterns against a dark background. The circular wafer showcases a grid-like design, emphasizing the precision and complexity of microchip technology.

Intel Takes Next Step Toward Building Scalable Silicon-Based Quantum Processors

Research published in Nature demonstrates high qubit control fidelity and uniformity in single-electron control.

May 1, 2024
News 5G & WirelessA man in a hard hat and safety vest holds a laptop in an industrial setting. He stands in front of machinery and robotic equipment, appearing focused on his tasks. The environment is well-lit with metal structures.

Intel Teams with Partners to Enable and Grow End-to-End Private Networks Market

Intel-powered private 5G solutions in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Cisco, NTT DATA, Ericsson and Nokia are deployed around the world.

February 12, 2024
News CorporateA large industrial complex with numerous pipes, buildings, and cranes under a clear blue sky. In the background, there are mountains and a barren landscape. The scene suggests an active construction or industrial site in a desert area.

Intel Opens Fab 9 in New Mexico

Opening marks a milestone for high-volume manufacturing of 3D advanced packaging technologies.

January 24, 2024
News CorporateTwo businessmen shaking hands and smiling in front of the Intel sign at the Robert N. Noyce Building. One man is giving a thumbs up. The background shows modern architecture and greenery.

Siemens and Intel to Collaborate on Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing

December 4, 2023