Makes a lot of sense. They will put together a line using one of a kind of each tool and verify they can manufacture with a similar yield and performance. That way they have a reference for the new fab. Otherwise a way more complex debugging challenge. They have all the engineers there to figure out the mini line.
Even better, fly the line development engineers over for the price of a plane ticket and hotel rooms. Setting up a factory and running it are different jobs. Of course they will want to do as much "Pre-fab" pre-fab work as possible on their home ground. TSMC would be wise to copy exactly "Copy Exactly".
This is a large move for TSMC and will change them from a "Globally Important" company to a "Global and Globally Important" company. Even if it accounts for a small percentage of their whole operation I can see it drastically changing the corporate culture.
When my father-in-law was working at Atmel (much smaller semi-conductor firm) he had a peer in the same position as him in Korea operating the same testing equipment. The company found it efficient to have him fly to Korea and live there short term to fill in for temporary absences of his Korea counterpart (and less often vice-versa) rather than train someone up. The machine and larger line that it was apart of were so expensive (and profitable) that the labor costs to ensure it's continuous operation were almost irrelevant.
(And now the cynical take...)
TSMC's most important hires will likely be the lawyers, lobbyists, accountants and fixers that can make "subsidy farming" a bigger and better business than "crypto-mining". (and just as connected to the real world)
I don't think this has anything to do with the actual buildings that will house the FAB equipment. ..
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram