A daily disinfection is carried out in the Lin-gang factory of GTA Semiconductor. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

Integrated circuits makers – or lC manufacturers – in East China's Shanghai city have resumed or been making preparations for output resumptions, with comprehensive plans and closed-loop management put in place in order to ensure orderly production.

More than 60 key IC enterprises in Shanghai were recently included on a whitelist for operations resumption, to ensure the stability of the supply chain. Currently, most chip manufacturers have been restored to a high-level production capability, at around 80 percent of normal levels.

One of the IC industry's features is round-the-clock production. If a machine is stopped and turned on again, the loss can be major. In response to this, some of Shanghai's IC factories adopted a "closed production" mode to ensure continued supplies without a complete shutdown amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of them, GTA Semiconductor Co Ltd, deployed work in advance. It arranged for hundreds of its employees to return to the factory in the Lin-gang Special Area before the closed-loop management of Pudong New Area was rolled out in April.

In accordance with the requirements for epidemic prevention, close management was maintained during the outbreak period, while production was steadily carried out.

As of now, GTA Semiconductor's factory in Lin-gang is operating at more than 98 percent of capacity and its production targets set for March were exceeded.

Employees at GTA Semiconductor's factory in Lin-gang wear special protective clothing. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

In addition to the chip manufacturers, IC equipment and materials enterprises have also resumed production.

Shanghai Zenfocus Semiconductor Technology Co Ltd, an IC testing materials firm in Lin-gang, resumed output on April 23.

"To be on the safe side, we arranged for cars to pick up the first batch of employees from their homes and returned them to the factory," said Luo Xiongke, chairman of Zenfocus.

Luo said over 30 employees were living and working in the company, with the group inviting a third-party nucleic acid testing agency to do nucleic acid tests for employees every day.

"Though the daily door-to-door nucleic acid tests and the staff subsidies increased the cost of production, the outlay was worth it as long as customers were not lost," Luo said.