Fremont, CA, September 14, 1999 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM:ASYT), a leading supplier of advanced manufacturing solutions for the semiconductor industry, today announced it has received orders for approximately $8 million in Standard Mechanical Interface (SMIF) equipment from UMC Group, a leading Taiwanese foundry. UMC's new 70,000 sq. ft., 200 mm Fab 5, located in Hsinchu Industrial Park, will produce advanced integrated circuits (ICs) using interconnect technologies that include copper and aluminum. The first shipments of Asyst's equipment are expected to begin this month.

"UMC's decision to incorporate Asyst's SMIF technology in Fab 5 demonstrates that SMIF technology has become the technology of choice for all the leading foundries in the world, with Asyst as the leading provider of this technology," said Asyst Chairman and CEO Mihir Parikh. "Foundries were the first semiconductor manufacturers to recognize the benefit of our value assurance technology, which protects the wafer through every step in the manufacturing process. Asyst now has an installed base that represents most of the world's major foundries."

UMC's decision to implement copper production presented unique challenges because of the danger of copper contamination in other parts of the fab. Since copper contamination can "poison" the transistors contained in a device, it is critical that copper process facilities be carefully isolated from other process areas. Asyst worked closely with UMC to develop solutions, such as advanced SMIF-pods that will operate only with copper process tools, to help prevent inadvertent misrouting of wafers that could lead to copper contamination.

According to Chris Chi, senior vice president at UMC, the choice of Asyst's technology was based on the company's proven track-record in solving difficult challenges. "We originally used Asyst's SMIF technology to help us expand capacity in Fab 3, in a very unconventional manufacturing situation. The success we had with their equipment led us to decide to design Asyst's SMIF technology into Fab 5 from the beginning."

"Our initial business with UMC involved overcoming some very unusual fab manufacturing challenges," said Kenneth Leung, Asyst's vice president, Asia-Pacific operations. "We have built a strong working relationship with UMC as a result of both our collaborative efforts and our locally-based service and support. These were key factors in helping us win this order."

The UMC Fab 5 order consists of the full range of Asyst-SMIF products, including: Asyst SMIF-LPTsT and IndexersT for transferring cassettes into and out of process equipment; SMIF-EnclosuresT or minienvironments for isolating process equipment; SMART-TagsT for wafer lot tracking; Asyst SMIF-Pods for encapsulating wafer cassettes; and single-reticle pods.

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q and annual report to shareholders.

About Asyst:
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of advanced technologies designed to protect and enhance customers' valued assets throughout all phases of the manufacturing process. The company's comprehensive solutions set includes 200 and 300 mm product families that deliver state-of-the-art isolation, material management, robotics and software needed to ensure seamless factory automation in the most advanced fabs worldwide. Leveraging its value assurance technologies, Asyst offers OEMs the ability to speed time to market and reduce development costs, and chipmakers the ability to achieve greater fab profitability and productivity.