When a tool goes down in a fab, the part that restores it is small, specific and usually manufactured on another continent. Handling parts, seals, filters, wafer carriers, metrology artefacts and equipment spares are the archetypal Hsinchu consignment, and the hourly cost behind them is not in dispute.
The road leg from Taoyuan is short and predictable, which is a genuine advantage: it means the door-to-door time is essentially the flight time plus clearance, and the only real variable is the departure.


