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Partnering October, 2021
BTU’s Thermal Expertise Goes Beyond Reflow
By Rob DiMatteo, General Manager, BTU International
in both the United States and Shanghai are operating at capac- ity. Total stability is never the expectation in a cyclical indus- try; however, the company sees the underlying demand in end markets as sustained. Expect these conditions to persist for some time. While there are still strug-
L
gles to overcome some of the con- straints presented by COVID, employees are working in person at BTU’s facilities in the United States and overseas, but cross border travel is still very limited. The company has teams working together globally that meet sev- eral times a week remotely to collaborate on development proj- ects and customer requests.
Ovens and Furnaces BTU is well-known for Pyra-
max convection reflow ovens. It
ike many suppliers in the electronics industry, BTU has kept busy. Its factories
was one of the first reflow oven suppliers to pioneer the use of convection for reflow back in the early 1990s. Today its Pyramax reflow ovens are used for both SMT processing and for ad- vanced packaging applications. In SMT, BTU does very well
with high-volume automotive EMS companies. In these appli- cations, the oven must perform at very high throughput and with extreme reliability — exact- ly what Pyramax is designed to deliver. In semiconductor packag- ing, the Pyramax offers some of
the lowest O2 ppm levels in the industry and the Pyramax True- Flat configuration solves the issue of substrate warpage for very thin substrates. Unlike many reflow oven suppliers, its expertise doesn’t end at 400°C. Since 1950, the company
has made custom high-tempera- ture belt furnaces in the United States and still does today.
These furnaces have maximum operating temperatures in excess of 1,000°C. We see all sorts of ap- plications through this custom work, anything from automotive radiators to implantable medical devices used to treat cancer. At also manufactures hori-
zontal diffusion furnaces used in frontend semiconductor process- ing through its Bruce diffusion furnace division at its factory in the U.S. These tube diffusion fur- naces operate at temperatures up to 1,200°C, making them uniquely suited to serve the growing power semiconductor sector.
Opportunities and Challenges
A little about myself: I’ve
worked at BTU for just over 30 years in various roles both in sales and marketing. Prior to being named general manager, I was the director of sales for the Americas. I have served as a product manager for BTU’s largest product lines — SMT re- flow ovens. One of my objectives in lead-
ing BTU is to ensure that the customer’s voice is first to be con- sidered in every business situa- tion. While customer requests are not always easy to satisfy, they are always valid and always represent something real — these are the formative inputs
Run with us.
There is no better way to reach the Electronic High Tech and Manufacturing Community than advertising in U.S. Tech.
www.us-tech.com.
we will use to set our organiza- tional goals and objectives. It’s a primary consideration as we look at equipment lead times, busi- ness systems and our organiza- tional structure. It is one thing to make the best performing equip- ment, but another to be a respon- sive organization that is easy to do business with — we strive to do both. The immediate and long-
term outlook for BTU is good. The company recently finished a major capacity expansion at its facility in Shanghai. The compa- ny is also planning a major prod- uct announcement for late 2022. The company’s global teams
have been collaborating nonstop through the pandemic and are tremendously excited to get to market with the new offering. BTU attributes a large part of its success to its many hardworking and skilled employees across many disciplines. However, there are chal-
lenges now, not just on the hori- zon, that present significant hur- dles. The most severe problem is with logistics, shipping finished goods. The major delays, in- creased costs and lack of pre- dictability
cause lots of
headaches at both of BTU’s fac- tories. Unfortunately, that situa- tion is not likely to be resolved quickly. Similarly, our suppliers are having difficulty getting their products to us, and we are seeing some cost increases on raw materials. It may seemed “old-fash-
ioned,” but meeting internation- al colleagues in person, while spending time in each office over- seas and attending trade shows to show off innovations and net- working with peers, is much more satisfying than purely re-
mote work. Contact: BTU International,
Inc., 23 Esquire Road, North Billerica, MA 01862 % 978-667-4111 E-mail:
rdimatteo@btu.com Web:
www.btu.com r
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