How GCE relocated a SiC research lab's CD-SEM and kept it running under a long-term support plan

The customer had purchased a KLA 8100XP from a U.S. fab and needed the tool decommissioned, prepared for transport, and reinstalled and requalified at the new site, with ongoing support lined up for what has become a legacy platform. The risk was protecting a sensitive, aging tool through disconnect, move-out, rigging, and crating without transport surprises.

GCE proposed an operational check where possible, installed shipping locks, prepared the tool for move-out, and supervised the customer's riggers through crating and transport. Once the tool was live at the new site, GCE placed it on an ongoing support plan rather than closing out at delivery.

GCE had refurbished, sold, installed, and supported this tool for the past ten years at the customer's fab, so the team already knew the platform's history going into the relocation. GCE field engineers coordinated on-site, secured the system, and moved it to the rigger's warehouse, with crating planned immediately afterward — continuity that's also why the customer kept GCE on for support once the tool was running at the new site.

The system was relocated and fully requalified to original specifications at its new site, with no performance issues traced back to the move. Because GCE had supported the tool for years prior, the reinstall team already knew its calibration history and could validate performance quickly rather than starting from scratch. The customer chose to keep GCE on an ongoing support plan going forward, turning what could have been a one-time move into a continued service relationship.

A university SiC lab needed a sensitive legacy metrology tool relocated from a U.S. fab, and GCE — the team that had already supported the tool for years — handled the move and kept it under an ongoing service plan at the new site.