profile 9
machine, because the OEMs bring their has ten years to go. M-u-t has considerable change from taking samples and sending them
knowledge of the market and the application manufacturing resources and mechanical to a lab to be examined, maybe taking one or
that Avantes could never match on its own. engineering know-how, which will help the two hours. People want online monitoring so
OEMs are given a lot of support in the company as it continues to expand. they know immediately if something is wrong.
shape of software. A basic software interface Oderkerk says: ‘In the future we will be They don’t want to have to throw away two
is given away free and there are additional working towards much more specific sensor hours of production.
packages that make it easy to integrate systems based on the spectroscope; it needs to Avantes is predicting double digit growth
the data from the device into standard be built into a device where the customer just again for 2009, despite the difficult economic
environments, such as LabView. Avantes presses a button and gets an indication. environment, partly because it is trading
has its own small software engineering team ‘We also think that in the high-end process a very wide range of industries and partly
that can help OEMs further with software control market there will be a growing because there are industries out there which
development. market, because so many parameters have are still ‘undiscovered countries’ as far as
At the moment Avantes has 50 active OEM to be measured. There is going to be a big spectroscopy is concerned.
accounts using 90 different configurations of
spectroscopes in 19 distinct application areas.
The product line is extremely modular and
so the direct sales can offer a very wide range
of configurations to end users. OEM sales are
strong in the US and Europe, but at present
the majority of the sales in Asia are direct sales
to laboratory customers.
As well as its direct offices Avantes now
has about 50 distributors all over the world.
www.optics-bfioptilas.com
The company has invested a lot in training its
sales people and its distributors to a relatively
high level so they can get involved with the
customers in getting the application to work.
Many of its distributors have PhDs. In many
- X-Ray & UV Laser Optics
ways the applications for the device are so
- >40J/cm² Damage Threshold
wide potential customers are everywhere.
- Cubes & 45° Polarizers
The problem is covering all of them. Year
- Standard & Custom Assemblies
on year sales have been growing at close to
30 per cent; new business opportunities are
X-Ray
arising all the time. The company wants to
offer a customer service rather than a quick
telephone sale and it makes sure that even
Ultraviolet
those answering the phone have enough BFI OPTILAS AD - HP ISLAND
knowledge to help a customer. There are
many variations, particularly in the gratings,
Visible
that require a detailed knowledge of
- CO2 Optics
performance.
- Beam Expanders
Oderkerk says: ‘There are many parameters
- F-Theta Lenses Infrared
involved and there are very few people
- YAG Rods
around who know how to sell the correct
- Filters
CO2
spectrometer to an OEM customer. What is
important is to know the limitations of the
technology and not just say “yeah, we can do
that”.’
BFi OPTiLAS’ leading Partners provide the Optical
The fast growth of the company has put
a strain on its cash flow, but Oderkerk says
Components that best fit YOUR application.
Avantes has been generating cash and does
not need huge capital items. Despite this, it
sold 51 per cent of its shares to m-u-t AG, a
publicly-quoted lab equipment manufacturer
based in Germany. Oderkerk says the
transaction was largely an exit strategy
for some of the shareholders who were
info@bfioptilas.com
approaching retirement. Oderkerk says he still
Benelux-France-Germany-Italy-Spain-Nordics-UK
EOfeb09 pp08-09 Profile.indd 9 17/2/09 16:38:25
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