Dr Matthias Wiemer, Member of the Management Board and COO of Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG tells PES about recent developments, including some major acquisitions, within the successful German-based company.
PES: Welcome to PES magazine. Can you begin by explaining a little about the company and how you serve the PV industry?
Matthias Wiemer: Founded in 1890, Pfeiffer Vacuum is one of the world’s leading providers of vacuum solutions with more than 2,200 people and 28 subsidiaries worldwide. Our portfolio comprises a full range of hybrid and magnetically levitated turbo-molecular pumps (turbopumps), a range of backing pumps, measurement and analysis devices, components, vacuum chambers, and systems. Starting with the invention of the turbopump at Pfeiffer Vacuum, our company has continuously striven for innovative solutions and high-technology products, which are applied in many industrial markets such as analytical, R&D, environmental technology, chemistry, semiconductor, coating, as well as in the automotive industry and any number of other fields.
The photovoltaic industry is one of our focus markets in Europe, USA and Asia. Coating systems for solar cell place high requirements on the vacuum equipment with respect to reliability. Pfeiffer Vacuum enjoys a reputation for offering innovative, efficient and reliable vacuum solutions ranging from high to low vacuum for the photovoltaic industry application. In addition to individual components, we also offer pumping stations that are customized for specific needs.
PES: The company recently acquired adixen – what were the strategic reasons for doing this?
MW: This acquisition creates a perfect strategic fit of the combined companies in areas of products, markets and regions. Synergies generated through the acquisition allow both entities to greatly benefit from each other’s strength by directly off-setting each other’s weaknesses. In the field of photovoltaic, Pfeiffer Vacuum’s expertise in the thin film process is optimally complemented by adixen’s strength in the silicon wafer-based process. On product level this means, turbopumps from Pfeiffer Vacuum are very well established in the market for thin-film machinery equipment, while backing pumps from adixen hold an outstanding position in the market for silicon- based wafer machinery equipment. Another example worth mentioning is the HiPace turbopump which already works perfectly together with the ACP backing pump from adixen without any major adjustments in product development. Our combined know-how and the enlarged product portfolio create new market potentials and also considerable advantages for our customers. Moreover, we significantly expand our sales and service network, to increase market share in the global market for vacuum solutions. Last but not least, our presence in the fast growing Asian markets has increased.
