This chapter provides management of Microsystems foundries as well as their users assistance in their decision making process. We aim to assist designers in finding appropriate "Fabs" early in their device development phase, help foundries understand the direction of technology, and provide trends in fab construction and conversion. For example, it is comparatively easy for the MEMS designers to find prototypical foundry services. But, there remain prerequisites to finding a reliable path from product concept to commercializable volume.

The contributors to this chapter recognize that the cost involved in changing fabs or processes (see MEMS/MST Cost Modeling chapter), in both time and money, is enormous. A barrier for MEMS manufacturing is the difficulty of creating and maintaining cost-effective fabrication facilities for low volumes that can facilitate also high volumes. Another barrier is time needed to transform university developed processes into industrial ones. The drive to design for performance instead of design for manufacturability is helping to get customers interested, but is also delaying industrialization.

There are 5 categories of foundries:

1. University originated, mostly research oriented and/or SME

2. Smaller semiconductor companies offering MST service for balancing the capacity

3. Larger semiconductor companies offering MST to protect the customer base

4. Smaller non-semiconductor companies offering MST service for balancing the capacity

5. Pure foundries

In particular it is categories 2 and 3, semiconductor companies, which are growing in number.

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