# Portland and Hillsboro, Oregon manufacturing: semiconductors and metals > Source: https://netray.co/manufacturing/portland-hillsboro-oregon-semiconductor-metals-manufacturing > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Manufacturing Hubs ## Short answer The Portland metro area, with Hillsboro at its western edge, is known as the Silicon Forest for its semiconductor design, process development and fabrication, anchored by Intel. The region also has a long metals tradition in castings, forgings, steel and fabrication, giving suppliers a mix of high-tech and heavy industrial customers. ## Kind region ## Country United States ## Area Oregon ## Intro The Portland metro area, with Hillsboro at its western edge, is known as the Silicon Forest for its semiconductor design, process development and fabrication, anchored by Intel. The region also has a long metals tradition in castings, forgings, steel and fabrication, giving suppliers a mix of high-tech and heavy industrial customers. ## Industries ### Semiconductor fabrication and R&D **Detail:** Intel's Hillsboro sites focus on process development and manufacturing, creating demand for tool spares, facility systems and precision components. ### Semiconductor equipment and test **Detail:** Hillsboro and Beaverton host equipment, instrumentation and electron microscopy operations that need machined parts, assemblies and electronics. ### Metals, castings and forgings **Detail:** Portland has long supported investment casting, forging, steel and heavy fabrication for aerospace, energy and industrial customers. ### Aerospace and industrial fabrication **Detail:** Machine shops and fabricators make structural parts, weldments and tooling for aerospace primes and heavy equipment makers. ### Electronics assembly **Detail:** Board assembly and test serve instrumentation, industrial and defense customers across the metro area. ## Ecosystem ### Intel Oregon (Hillsboro) **Type:** anchor manufacturer **Note:** Intel has major research and manufacturing campuses in Hillsboro, its largest site by employment. ### Precision Castparts Corp. **Type:** anchor manufacturer **Note:** PCC, a large castings and forgings maker for aerospace, is headquartered in Portland. ### Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hillsboro) **Type:** anchor manufacturer **Note:** Thermo Fisher has electron microscope operations in Hillsboro, from the former FEI business. ### Lattice Semiconductor **Type:** anchor manufacturer **Note:** Lattice, a programmable logic company, is headquartered in the Portland area. ### Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) **Type:** MEP center **Note:** OMEP is Oregon's NIST MEP center serving small and mid-size manufacturers. ### Business Oregon **Type:** state program **Note:** Business Oregon is the state economic development agency. ### Oregon State University **Type:** university **Note:** OSU has engineering and semiconductor related research programs. ### Portland State University **Type:** university **Note:** PSU's engineering school works with regional industry. ### Portland Community College **Type:** workforce **Note:** PCC runs technical and manufacturing training programs in the metro area. ### SMTA **Type:** association **Note:** Searches for SMTA Oregon reflect local interest in electronics assembly events and chapters. ## Requirements - AS9100 for aerospace casting, forging and machining suppliers - NADCAP for heat treat, NDT, chemical processing and welding - ISO 9001 as the baseline quality system - Material certification and full lot traceability for castings and forgings - Customer specific cleanliness and spares rules for semiconductor tool parts - IPC-A-610 and J-STD-001 for electronics assembly - ITAR and EAR where defense or advanced technology work is involved - Environmental permitting for foundry, plating and finishing operations ## Sections ### What Portland area shops make and for whom **Body:** The region splits into two rhythms. Semiconductor related suppliers focus on clean, precise parts and responsive service for fab maintenance, while metals companies focus on heavy, certified material flowing to aerospace and industrial customers. Both need strict traceability, but the shop floor, routing logic and cost structure look very different. **Bullets:** - Precision parts and spares for tool makers - Certified castings, forgings and heavy weldments - Machined components for aerospace programs ### Quoting and estimating realities **Body:** Metals work is quoted on material, yield, process route and special process costs, with melt or heat lot traceability driving paperwork. Semiconductor related parts are quoted on tight tolerances, finishes, cleaning and packaging. Estimators benefit from quickly finding comparable past jobs and their actual scrap and rework, since yield loss often decides whether a quote makes money. ### ERP and systems commonly seen **Body:** Mid-size manufacturers here use Epicor Kinetic, Infor SyteLine/CloudSuite Industrial, NetSuite, DELMIAworks or Global Shop Solutions, with smaller shops on JobBOSS, E2 or ProShop. Typical gaps are lot and heat traceability that lives partly on paper, outside-process tracking in spreadsheets, and reporting built by one long-time employee. Cleaning these up usually beats replacing the ERP. ### Compliance and data handling **Body:** Aerospace metals suppliers deal with customer controlled specifications and export controlled technical data, and semiconductor customers guard process information closely. Keeping AI inside the plant network or a private cloud, with retrieval respecting existing ERP roles, helps the customer meet its own contractual and export obligations. Netray does not hold certifications on the customer's behalf. ### Where private AI helps and where it does not **Body:** Useful cases include asking which heat lots went into a shipped order, finding past quotes on similar castings, or summarizing open nonconformance reports. AI will not repair missing traceability data that was never captured. If the data is incomplete, fix capture on the shop floor first, then add natural-language access on top. ## Faq ### Why is Hillsboro called the Silicon Forest? **Answer:** The Portland area earned the Silicon Forest nickname because of its concentration of semiconductor and technology companies, with Intel's large Hillsboro campuses a central anchor. ### What is OMEP? **Answer:** The Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership is the state's NIST MEP center. It provides consulting and training to small and mid-size manufacturers on operations, growth and technology adoption. ### Which ERP systems fit Oregon metals and casting suppliers? **Answer:** Mid-size suppliers often use Epicor, Infor SyteLine, NetSuite or DELMIAworks, and smaller shops use JobBOSS, E2 or ProShop. The deciding factors are lot traceability, outside processing control and costing by heat or lot. ### Is there an SMTA presence in Oregon? **Answer:** People search for SMTA Oregon and SMTA SCIO Oregon, which suggests active local interest in electronics assembly events. Check the SMTA website for current chapter events and contacts. ## Search terms semiconductor manufacturing portland oregon, hillsboro oregon semiconductor, oregon metals manufacturing, oregon manufacturing extension partnership, machine shops portland oregon, smta oregon, oregon casting and forging suppliers --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json