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MAT-VAC™ Modernized, Automated and Remanufactured Universal Sputterer™ Sputtering Batch Systems Introduction/Design Philosophy (Raison d'etre) For some time now, MAT-VAC™ Technology, Inc. has been aware of the need for economical, highly reliable quality standardized batch sputtering systems for R&D and specialized production applications of which there is a scarcity in today's market place. Many of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of batch sputtering equipment e.g., Perkin-Elmer, MRC, CVC Products, Varian/NRC, Sloan … etc., have either discontinued manufacturing this equipment or completely exited these market areas altogether. The Problem... What's left are 2 or 3 historic manufacturers of batch sputtering equipment, who by-and-large, are resting on their technical laurels of years ago and are producing equipment that is overpriced, largely out-of-date with few, if any, modern upgrades and a plethora of manufacturers of non-standardized, custom "one-of-a-kind" systems. Custom sputtering systems by definition, lack design commonality. This greatly increases the cost of ownership and limits their utility/value to the customer in terms of their ability to maintain and repair, training overlap, as well as, support the equipment with common spare parts. Often times these OEM & custom sputtering system manufacturers will devise ways to employ "hooks" to force the customer to purchase spare parts only from them. This is typically done, so as to over charge the customer on spare parts purchases and also in a general sense to increase the customer's dependency on the sputtering system OEM. MAT-VAC™ in contrast takes a completely opposite approach. Our goal is to "empower" the customer. At MAT-VAC™ we still believe that the "Customer is King." We exist to serve the customer, not the other way around! The Flip Side... For those companies considering the purchase of "Rebuilt" or "As-Is" batch sputtering system, we urge you to proceed with caution! MAT-VAC™ has been there... and learned after many years of experience that this does not make good sense from an economic and safety standpoint. You will be purchasing another company's problems…the phrase "pig in a poke" immediately comes to mind. Ask yourself this, what primary business are you in? If you are an end-user of sputtering equipment, then the charter/purpose of your company or organization is clearly not the rebuilding of sputtering equipment. Your technical personnel are probably already hard pressed performing their primary assignments. If they are additionally tasked to rebuild sputtering equipment, then their efforts will be diluted from your company's primary mission. And in the end, even if they are successful in "resurrecting" a used sputtering system, your company will still have a sputtering system with outdated / outmoded technology. Such equipment will require constant expensive maintenance and repairs. Related to this, is also the fact that a non-upgraded/remanufactured sputtering system with 20-25 year old technology will be by definition less productive and have higher ongoing repair and maintenance expenses which will always be increasing over time. It almost goes without saying that productivity "uptime" will be minimal.
This is clearly a case of "pennywise pound foolish" which will in the long term end up costing your company more than a remanufactured MAT-VAC™ Batch Sputtering System and may even, per the above, compromise the safety of your technical personnel. Why not let MAT-VAC™, the experts, do what they do best? Make the right choice…go "Uptown" with the market leader…go with MAT-VAC™…the correct choice…the smart choice…the better choice. The Solution... MAT-VAC's solution to the above is to design and manufacture Universal Sputterer™ batch sputtering equipment, which incorporates the very best "tried and true" features of the original OEM mechanical designs, but with the latest state-of-the-art PLC GUI "Universal Sputterer™" automation platform. The "Universal Sputterer™" is common to all MAT-VAC™ batch sputtering system products. MAT-VAC batch sputtering systems make extensive use of "off the shelf" standardized components readily available from the leading component manufacturers and with modern up-to-date safety standards engineered in. The results are a standardized (They are NOT "one of a kind" custom machines) product line of modern, technically advanced batch sputtering systems for R&D and specialized production applications, which are highly reliable, economically priced, and of the highest quality possible with maximum utility/value to the customer. In today's very competitive business environment, why pay more than you absolutely have to? |
