Jenoptik Group opens laser application center in Korea.
The official opening of the new sales, application and service site took place today. Customers and partners were presented the entire product spectrum of the Lasers & Material Processing as well as Optical Systems divisions.
Jenoptik Chairman of the Executive Board Dr. Michael Mertin and CFO Frank Einhellinger opened the new laser application center in the presence of around 100 invited guests from business and politics, among them numerous customers and partners of the Jenoptik Group in Asia. "This moves our process of internationalization a major step forward. Direct market access and a trained service team are indispensable for complex systems. With the new center, we have laid the foundation for further business activities of all divisions of the Jenoptik Group," said Michael Mertin at the opening.
Customers and interested parties from across Asia can now test lasers and laser applications for their own production environments on site with their own materials and refine the processes together with Jenoptik engineers. Jenoptik invested $4.4 million (approx. €3.4 million/5.4 billion Korean Won) in the laser application center in the southern Korean city of Pyeongtaek (Gyeonggi province, 70 km south of Seoul).
The application center is sited on a campus shared with Telstar-Hommel Corp., a long-standing Jenoptik joint venture partner in the Industrial Metrology division. Together with Telstar-Hommel Corp., Jenoptik founded JENOPTIK Korea Corp. in July 2009 and built the new application center in only four months. The Jenoptik Executive Board gave special thanks to Buyng-Hoon Im, president and CEO of Telstar-Hommel: "We have an experienced partner in Telstar-Hommel. Without the close and intensive collaboration, we would not have been able to build the laser application center so quickly and successfully," said Michael Mertin and Frank Einhellinger in their opening speech.
Lasers and laser processing systems available for extensive tests, process development and pilot and small production runs.
Over an area of approx. 500 square meters, the laser application center has initially been equipped with two laser systems for processes in the electronic as well as photovoltaics and flat panel industries: the JENOPTIK VOTANTM Semi 300 is designed for machining wafers (Si, GaAs or SiC) and thus also for ultra-precise applications in clean room environments. The special separation process developed by Jenoptik, so-called TLS-DicingTM (TLS = Thermal Laser Separation), enables the quick, efficient and damage-free separation of semiconductor wafers. With the JENOPTIK VOTANTM Advanced laser system, the TLS process specifically addresses the photovoltaics and flat panel industry for industrial cutting (called separation) of thin-film solar cells and display glass. In addition to tests, customers and interested parties can also develop individual technological solutions on the systems, manufacture pilot runs and small batches and commission feasibility studies.
There are plans to expand the application center with additional laser systems in the coming months as part of the expansion of JENOPTIK Korea Corporation Ltd. Within a short time, JENOPTIK Korea Corporation Ltd. has already positioned itself as a partner for the entire Asian growth market. The company has eight employees and, in addition to the application center, is in charge of all after-sales service in Asia together with other Jenoptik companies, e.g. in Japan. A total of over 60 laser systems for various applications are currently in use in Asia.
14 further systems have been commissioned and will be delivered or installed in the coming months. JENOPTIK Korea Corporation Ltd. achieved its first successes quicker than expected and received new orders worth a total of around €5 million in recent months.
Jenoptik Group expanding presence in Asia.
According to preliminary figures, sales of the Jenoptik Group in Asia comprised just under 8 percent of overall sales of around €470 million in 2009, just under 10 percent of overall sales in the Lasers & Optical Systems segment were in Asia. "We see more great potential for the overall Group in Asia. With our direct local presence, we can now approach the market better and more intensively. In the current year, we are again expanding our activity in Asia," says Jenoptik boss Dr. Michael Mertin. In Asia, the Jenoptik Group currently has a total of about 150 employees in own or joint venture companies and, in addition to Korea, is also present in China and Japan.
The business contacts in Korea are attributable to the Industrial Metrology division of the Jenoptik Group, which has already been represented there for over 25 years. Customers of Industrial Metrology include renowned automobile manufacturers and suppliers such as KIA, Hyundai and GM Daewoo.
Facts & figures on the new laser application center
Start of construction: July 2009
Move-in/handover date: November 2009
Formal opening: March 8, 2010
Area: 500 m2, of which 80 m2 clean room
Equipment: JENOPTIK VOTANTM Semi 300 l JENOPTIK VOTANTM Advanced
Facts & figures on JENOPTIK Korea Corporation Ltd.
Founded: July 2, 2009
Partners: Telstar-Hommel Corp (33.3 percent), JENOPTIK AG (66.6 percent)
Employees: 8
Address: 455-2 Hyeongok, Cheongbuk
Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi,
Korea 451-831
Contact: Mr. Daniel Böhme, President & CEO
Phone: +82-31-6464-020
E-mail: Jenoptik.Korea@gmail.com
