Massachusetts state and local officials celebrate the opening of a new 90,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing addition to Vicor Corporation’s power module manufacturing facility. The world’s first converter housed in package (CHiP) fabrication facility, or “ChiP fab,” sets the standard for scalable high volume, cost-effective and reliable power module manufacturing in the U.S.
The celebration will include Vicor senior management, employees, customers and investors who will be joined by several state political dignitaries:
• Mike Kenneally, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for Baker-Polito Administration
• Jim Cantwell, Massachusetts State Director for U.S. Senator Edward Markey
• Caroline, Freedman, Regional Director for Merrimack Valley for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
• Tram Nguyen, State Representative, 18th Essex District
The 45 percent increase in manufacturing capacity will support continued Vicor growth in the advanced power electronics module market, enabling Vicor to ramp-up toward $1 billion in annual sales. This new capacity is integral to Vicor’s long-term business strategy, which includes supporting high volume automotive electrification for global OEMs and data centers/AI industries as well as satellite communication, unmanned vehicles and robotics.
“Our new ChiP fab is one-of-a-kind and custom-built for today’s high-density power demands,” said Mike McNamara, Vicor’s vice president of Operations. “Our proprietary manufacturing process allows us to produce our power modules faster, with superior quality, right here in Andover as we have done for 40 years. The increase in manufacturing capacity allows us to continue meeting customer needs in high volume markets.”
The new, vertically-integrated ChiP fab utilizes a proprietary production technique analogous to that employed by semiconductor wafer fabs. This patented process differentiates Vicor from its competitors by enabling the most power-dense products in the market.
A leader in innovation dedicated to local manufacturing, steady job growth
The new, first-of-its kind facility comes online just a year after Vicor celebrated 40 years of U.S.-based manufacturing. Vicor has been a proud member of the Andover business community for decades. During that time, Vicor has become home to thousands of highly skilled employees who have helped propel Vicor to become one of the largest and fastest growing technology manufacturers in Massachusetts.
Vicor has maintained a legacy of growth, keeping jobs in Massachusetts by designing and manufacturing 100 percent of its power modules in the U.S. Since ground breaking, Vicor has grown over 11 percent, and fully staffed, Vicor anticipates Massachusetts employee count to top 950.
Supporting next-generation sustainable manufacturing recycling 20 million gallons of water/year
The new fab was built using environmentally-friendly, clean manufacturing processes that far exceed the sustainability benchmarks of competing production facilities. For years, Vicor has responsibly disposed of its solid waste through its aggressive and resourceful recycling programs. Historically Vicor has recycled over 60 percent of its solid waste. Once fully operational, that number will increase.
Even more impressive is Vicor’s new water recycling system. Vicor has worked closely with local, state and federal environmental agencies to design and implement a best-in-class plating and surface treatment process that recycles up to 80,000 gallons of water each day which translates into over 20 million gallons saved annually. The result is a “zero-wastewater” discharge process. The solid contaminants filtered out as part of the process are collected and recycled when and where possible.