DISCO Corporation is a Japanese precision tools maker, especially for the semiconductor production industry. The company makes dicing saws and laser saws to cutsemiconductor silicon wafers and other materials; grinders to process silicon and compound semiconductor wafers to ultra-thin levels; polishing machines to remove the grinding damage layer from the wafer back-side and to increase chip strength.
History
The company was founded as Daiichi-Seitosho in May 1937, as an industrial abrasive wheel manufacturer. After World War IIJapan faced a construction boom which also helped DISCO to boost its sales. The company's grinder discs were in high demand from utility companies, which needed them to manufacture watt-meters. In December 1968 the company developed and released an ultra-thin resinoid cutting wheel, Microncut. The wheel contained diamond powder and as a result it was capable of making sharp, precision cuts as demanded in the semiconductor manufacturing process. There were no cutting machines available in the market on which ultra-thin precision wheels could be mounted and run, DISCO decided to develop its own machine in 1975. The cutting machine, DAD-2h, received instant recognition from semiconductor companies, including Texas Instruments. The company adopted the name of DISCO Corporation in May 1977, was listed with the Japan Securities Dealers' Association in October 1989, and entered the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 1999. In 2011, Disco launched its radical management strategy, and since then "its stock price has increased 4x and its margins have improved from 16% to 26%." The system was created to have an "intense free-market atmosphere that eliminates redundant tasks." This resulted to having employees at the company operate like an autonomous startup, "using an internal currency called “Will” to rent desk space, pay colleagues for consultation, or bid on projects." In a report made by Bloomberg, "employees at Disco pay for everything from conference-room access to advice from coworkers."
