News Article
New facility in Czech Republic to service broader European PVD market
Williams Advanced Materials (WAM) has announced expansion of its operations into Europe with the opening of a new precision cleaning and reconditioning services facility in the Czech Republic.
Williams Advanced Materials (WAM) has announced expansion of its operations into Europe with the opening of a new precision cleaning and reconditioning services facility in the Czech Republic. The expansion represents another major step in WAM's global strategy to support physical vapour deposition (PVD) customers serving the semiconductor and other technology-based growth markets.The addition of the Czech Republic facility enables WAM to augment its existing physical vapour deposition materials business with significantly enhanced service capabilities and an extended geographic reach throughout Continental Europe.OMC Scientific, a subsidiary of Williams Advanced Materials, is operating the new facility. It is located in the northwestern Czech region of Bohemia. OMC operates a similar facility in Limerick, Ireland.The Louny site, which has been brought on line over the past few weeks, now provides, fully integrated solutions for precision cleaning and reconditioning services for PVD customers including precious metal recovery, ultrasonic cleaning, surface treatment, final quality control and clean room packaging.The new operation also offers customers enhanced parts tracking services, decoupled plasma source (DPS) etching, ion implantation parts cleaning and reconditioning, assembly and leak testing of ultra high vacuum (UHV) components. There is additional space at the site to accommodate manufacturing expansion in PVD services and other market opportunities.In dedicating the new plant, Richard J. Hipple, Chairman, CEO and President of Brush Engineered Materials Inc., remarked, "We are excited to officially open the company's first investment in the Czech Republic and welcome its talented workforce to the WAM team and the Brush organization. This marks a milestone event in our efforts to provide premier service to our customers throughout the world." Mr. Hipple added, "For Williams Advanced Materials, the completion of this project allows it to immediately offer existing and future customers a broader and highly complementary range of capabilities, and adds a new source of revenues and margin contribution."Joining Mr. Hipple with remarks at the ceremony, Richard W. Sager, WAM President, said, " We are grateful for the support of CzechInvest in helping to provide an environment for investment and its ongoing commitment to provide the assistance that will further our growth here as the plant becomes fully operational. For the local community and the surrounding region, we believe we will be an important source of pride and economic benefit. We are committed to being a good employer and neighbour."
