The cooperation between Gebr. Schmid and Ishii Hyoki will expand Schmid's services in the photovoltaic sector process chain with the addition of the first process step, which is sawing the solar wafer ingots. This will enable Schmid (along with other cooperation partners) to provide turnkey solar wafer factories. The cooperation agreement with Schmid will substantially expand Ishii Hyoki's marketing base. Schmid will assume the exclusive global marketing of Ishii Hyoki's turnkey-project integrated systems. An agreement on exclusive distribution rights for Ishii individual equipment was reached for Europe, the United States, and India.
Ishii Hyoki Co., Ltd. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Hiroshima, Japan. Ishii Hyoki has approximately 350 employees. The company is one of the most important producers of wire saws for crystal silicon ingots and related slurry processing in Japan.