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 Introduction Applied Materials has a formal Year 2000 Program Office to address certain Year 2000 issues. The office focuses on four key areas: 1)Internal Infrastructure Readiness, addressing internal hardware and software, including both information technology and non-information technology systems; 2)Supplier Readiness, addressing the preparedness of suppliers providing material incorporated into the Applied Materials' products; 3) Product Readiness, addressing product functionality; and 4) Customer Readiness, addressing customer support and transactional activity. For each readiness area identified, Applied Materials is systematically performing a global risk assessment, conducting testing and remediation, (renovation and implementation), developing contingency plans to mitigate unknown and anticipated risks, and communicating Year 2000 information to employees, suppliers, customers and other third parties. As always, our success is measured by how we enable our customer's success.
Mission
Objective For all the items listed above :
Year 2000 problems arise from the practice of programming computers to store the date in the format dd/mm/yy. This format allows two digits for the day (dd), the month (mm), and the year (yy) and assumes 19 to be the century. However, when dates 2000 - 2999 are introduced using the dd/mm/yy format, computer systems may interpret the year 2000, entered as 00, as 1900. Left unchecked, this misinterpretation could have a significant effect on computer systems and other processes that rely on computer technology. Fixing the problem is usually called "achieving century compliance."
General Information
Internal Infrastructure Readiness Program: Applied Materials, assisted by a third party, completed an assessment of applications and information technology hardware and categorized them as either "mission critical" or "non-mission critical". All mission critical applications have been remediated, tested as appropriate, and determined to be Year 2000 ready. Substantially all mission hardware, including hubs, routers, telecommunication equipment, workstations and other items have been remediated, tested as appropriate, and determined to be Year 2000 ready, with any remaining items to be completed by September 30, 1999. Applied Materials has also completed its compliance evaluation of desktop computers and is in the process of replacing non-compliant computers. In addition to applications and information technology hardware, Applied Materials has assessed its non-information technology systems, including embedded systems, facilities and other operations, such as financial, banking, security and utility systems. Substantially all mission critical items have been remediated, tested as appropriate and determined to be Year 2000 ready, with any remaining items to be completed by September 30, 1999. Supplier Readiness Program: This program focuses on minimizing two areas of risk associated with suppliers: 1) a supplier's product integrity; and 2) a supplier's ability to continue providing products and services in accordance with Applied Materials standards and requirements. Applied Materials has identified and contacted key suppliers regarding their relative risks in these two areas. To date, Applied Materials has received responses from 95 percent of its suppliers, and the products provided to the Applied Materials, are either Year 2000 compliant or will be made Year 2000 compliant before the Year 2000. Applied Materials engaged an external consultant to conduct onsite audits of 220 key suppliers. Based upon the results of these audits, Applied Materials is in the process of developing a supplier action list and contingency plan for those suppliers that do not appear to be making sufficient progress towards Year 2000 readiness and and compliance. The contingency plan may include the identification of alternate suppliers or increasing Applied Materials' inventory of critical parts. In addition to these activities, Applied Materials relies on commercial or governmental suppliers for infrastructure-related services, including utilities, transportation, financial, governmental, communications and other services. These suppliers pose an undetermined risk to Applied Materials facilities and operations worldwide. Applied Materials is developing a readiness plan based upon the geographic location of the Applied Materials' facilities and the infrastructure suppliers used to support those facilities. This plan will include information on current suppliers, and alternate suppliers, if available, to better enable continuation of services in these worldwide locations. This readiness plan will also incorporate a contingency plan focused on those countries in which the Applied Materials believes the Year 2000 issue may most severely affect suppliers of infrastructure services. Product Readiness Program: This program focuses on identifying and resolving Year 2000 issues existing in the Applied Materials' products. The program encompasses a number of activities, including testing, evaluation, engineering and manufacturing implementation. Applied Materials has completed a Year 2000 readiness evaluation for its current generation of released products based upon a series of industry recognized testing scenarios. Testing and engineering activity for Applied Materials' current generation of products is complete, and unless otherwise requested by a customer, all products shipped on or after January 1, 1999 were Year 2000 ready. Customer Readiness Program: This program focuses on customer support issues, including the coordination of retrofit activity for older generation products, testing existing customer electronic transaction capability and providing other services to Applied Materials' customers. Applied Materials, in cooperation with its customers, has completed an inventory and assessment of products in use at substantially all of its customers' sites. Applied Materials is offering different upgrade packages for its products, including various parts, software and services in the form of "Year 2000 ready kits". As of July 31, 1999, upgrades for systems that shipped after January 1, 1997, are approximately 90 percent complete. All remaining upgrades are dependent upon specific customer requirements and schedules. In addition, Applied Materials plans to make a customer support team available to customers experiencing difficulty with Applied Materials products at the time of the Year 2000 transition. If you are an Applied Materials customer and you have additional questions about the impact of the Year 2000 on Applied Materials' products in your facility or would like to request a Year 2000 Product Matrix which defines the different readiness levels and readiness dates of Applied Materials products, please contact your account representative.
Hotline The hotline is available during normal business hours (Pacific Standard Time) at (408) 748-2000 or by email at y2K_program-office@amat.com
Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure:
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