Fremont, CA, October 9, 1997 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYT), the leading supplier of minienvironment and SMIF-based technology to the worldwide semiconductor industry, today announced it has reached two major milestones with the shipment of its 50,000th SMART-Tag™ and 100,000th Asyst-Pod™. The milestone SMART-Tag and SMIF-Pod were ordered as part of an Asyst-SMIF solution by National Semiconductor Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) and shipped to National's new facility in South Portland, Maine, during August 1997.

According to Asyst, these milestones signify continued strong industry demand for its SMIF technology, Asyst SMART-Traveler™ System (STS) lot tracking and work-in-progress (WIP) management solutions. John Field, Asyst's vice president of marketing and OEM sales, noted, "As the industry transitions to larger substrates and smaller design rules, greater demands are being placed on manufacturing strategies to reduce costs and increase yields. The adoption of Asyst-SMIF and the STS-now installed in over 26 fabs worldwide-is clear evidence of this trend." STS complements Asyst-SMIF and offers unmatched control over lot management during wafer processing.

Asyst reports that a key factor in National's decision to install the Asyst-SMIF and STS solution in its new facility was the solution's unique capability to fully integrate with National's highly robust Tool User Interface (TUI) host system. Field commented that SMIF and STS, as the industry's only fully-integrated solution, will merge with National's TUI to closely monitor and control WIP, as well as increase wafer-output yields. "Asyst solutions offer the flexibility to meet the specific demands of speeding the ramp-up of new facilities, as well as upgrading existing facilities," remarked Field. "We look forward to helping National meet current and future production goals at their new facility."

STS provides chipmakers with a scaleable lock-and-key solution, which increases yields by eliminating wafer misprocessing and other operational errors, and by automatically tracking and collecting data. STS is designed to integrate wafer processing, metrology and automated material handling systems on the factory floor using Asyst's SMIF-Pods, SMART-Tags, SMART-Probes™, SMART-Storage™ and flexible software. Currently commanding nearly 80 percent share of the lot tracking system market, Asyst-SMIF and STS are well positioned to meet the WIP management needs of the industry as it transitions to 300 mm wafer processing.

About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of material handling systems that help semiconductor manufacturers improve their integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing productivity. The company's Asyst-SMIF™ System combines state-of-the-art minienvironments with advanced robotics to create ultraclean processing environments that are both comprehensive and flexible. The SMART-Traveler™ System (STS) works in tandem with SMIF to eliminate misprocessing. Both Asyst-SMIF and its companion STS products are integral to seamless factory automation. Asyst Software, Inc. is dedicated to the development of software products for equipment communications and automated material handling, identification and tracking. Founded in 1984, Asyst Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, CA, with facilities in Europe and the Far East. Asyst Software is located in San Jose, CA

About SMIF
SMIF stands for Standard Mechanical InterFace, the material handling approach that enables wafer transfer to and from sealed SMIF environments without exposure to cleanroom ambient conditions. SEMI standards exist for 150- and 200 mm wafer sizes and are now being defined for 300 mm.