This is the first time that an Indian company has been involved in the design and architecture of ATE software, said WR Bottoms, chief executive officer, 3MTS.

S Srinivasan, director, SRA Systems, told reporters here that his company has been involved with development work with 3MTS for about eight months now through an exclusive virtual private network (VPN).

ATE machines are used to test the quality of integrated circuits. Generally, each of these machines come with an in-built testing software.

However, Bottoms said that the software to be released shortly from his company would be machine-independent and can be integrated with any make of ATE.

Bottoms also spelled out the possibility of 3MTS setting up an Indian subsidiary. Though the company is keen on utilising the skills of Indians in the area of design services for the electronic equipment, he said that the company was currently engaged in survey along with SRA to estimate the market potential. If the result is positive, he said that 3MTS is not shy even to set up an ATE manufacturing unit in India.