PES: We’re glad to welcome Pfeiffer Vacuum back to the magazine. How has business been in the year since we last spoke?

Stéphane Carpentier: Business in 2011 has been highly profitable with a very good first half of the year in all our major markets, followed by a slight slow-down of the semiconductor and the photovoltaic business in the second half of the year. The outlook for the coming year looks very positive. We see excellent chances to grow in all markets.

PES: The big news last time was the acquisition of adixen. Is the new operation starting to bear fruit?

SC: Together with the adixen portfolio, the ‘new’ Pfeiffer Vacuum now offers an even broader product portfolio with the same customer orientated approach. As a result, our customers benefit from our vacuum solutions with an attractive “one-stop-shopping” system, easier access, lower cost of ownership, extended service and all the experience of our professional engineers.

The acquisition of adixen has greatly reinforced our position, especially in Asian countries. For example, the rapid development of the glass coating market in China had already led to adixen selling large numbers of Maglev turbopumps in the country. The merger of Pfeiffer Vacuum and adixen now offers great opportunities to further increase our sales by supplying also fore vacuum pumps and gauges. Through the cooperation of the coating market segments from Annecy and Asslar

and strengthened by our local colleagues, we can now offer customers tailor-made total solutions for inline sputtering systems.

Prior to integration, Pfeiffer Vacuum and adixen were of similar size with a very strong commitment to customers. Therefore, the integration process went pretty smoothly. The so-called “cultural differences” between a German and a French company could be easily overcome.

PES: How has the glass coating market evolved over the past few years?

SC: The glass coating business is a mature market that is primarily linked to building construction, either new or refurbished, and to a lesser extent to the automotive industry. It is estimated that the market has grown in terms of volume by three to five per cent a year, and remains highly dependent on worldwide economic growth.

While the automotive market remained flat or decreased slightly over the period, the major driver has been the worldwide demand for reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Low emissivity coated glass panels greatly help in reaching this goal.

The years 2008 and 2009 were characterised by a strong demand for coated glass in China, resulting in important capacities investment. The financial crisis that started in the middle of 2010 resulted in construction projects being delayed, in glass panel prices decreasing, and in overcapacity of production. This situation is now improving, and we are seeing some signs of recovery in 2012.

Besides China, we noticed some emerging activity in the Middle Eastern countries and in Central and Eastern Europe.

PES: The Chinese market is a growing part of your business – how are you capitalising upon the region?

SC: China is the largest consumer of glass in the world, accounting for more than 40 percent of global demand in 2009. The quality and output of Chinese coated glass is increasing quickly, with glass coating equipment expected to operate continuously, 365 days per year, for more than 15 years in some cases. This leads to a strong demand for Pfeiffer Vacuum high quality pumping equipment.

We are of the opinion that the demand for architectural coated glass will continue to ramp up for environmental reasons, even though the economic situation could temporarily delay some investment projects.

To better support our Chinese customers, we recently expanded our sales and services facilities in Shanghai, and can rely on a fully operational service center in the Wuxi province. We also offer our customers on-site field service engineers and a network of local agents.

PES: And how has your co-operation with Annecy and Asslar assisted you?

SC: In addition to the acquisition of adixen, we doubled our sales and support team resources, which resulted in even closer connections with our customers.

A passion for perfectionStéphane Carpentier, Market Management Coating for Pfeiffer Vacuum joins PES for an interview that highlights the company’s dedication to the very highest levels of service and quality. For more than 120 years, Pfeiffer Vacuum has been setting standards in vacuum technology with these attributes, and it looks set to continue on this admirable course for a very long time to come…

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Buffer Chamber of a glass coater with an ATH 2302 M turbopump

Our application team, located at both the Annecy and Asslar sites, has been trained on both product lines, and is able to provide our customers with calculation capabilities for both product lines.

PES: What are the benefits to your customers of providing tailor-made solutions for inline sputtering systems?

SC: The key pumping requirements for a typical inline sputtering system are the pumping downtime for the load lock and buffer chambers, and the total gas flow for the process chambers.

As a global fore-vacuum and secondary turbo pump supplier, we are able to define complete pumping solutions that will comply exactly with our customer’s specifications.

During the design phase, we can provide vacuum pumping simulations that will help our customers to optimise their tool design, resulting in significant cost savings.

Through our worldwide sales and service network, we also ensure perfect and constant support for our customers, regardless of their location.

PES: Can you tell us a little about your Central Monitoring System, and explain how it helps to ensure constant production quality and throughput?

SC: An inline sputtering system can include up to 200 turbo pumps. Our Central Monitoring System is a computer based firmware that allows the tool owner to monitor all the pumps from a central control station.

After a first phase of describing the system,

the customer can access each pump individually and gain access to its main parameters (for instance, the rotation speed, power consumption, internal temperature and more). All warnings are also visualised on the system, which allows fast reactions and optimum throughput.

PES: Our glass manufacturer clients demand lowest cost of ownership and maximum uptime of the equipment. How do you meet these demands?

SC: The request for a constant reduction

of the cost of ownership has already been integrated in our design rules for many years. Our fully magnetically levitated technology allows us to offer products that combine the utmost pumping performance with low power consumption (typically 0.2 kW at ultimate pressure), and low cooling water consumption (60 l/h of recycled water). Maximum uptime is ensured through the absence of any maintenance operations.

All of our rotary vane and roots pumps are equipped with drive systems that refer to (Continued on page 62)

Sputter Process Monitor SPM 220 – precise up-to-the-minute analysis of sputter processes up to a pressure of 10-2 mbar

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Are you looking for a perfect vacuum solution?Please contact us:

Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH · Headquarters/Germany T +49 6441 802-0 · F +49 6441 802-202 info@pfeiffer-vacuum.de

www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com

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the energy saving standard IE2 (High Efficency). In response to customer requests, even IE3 (Premium Efficency) drive systems are available.

PES: Can you explain a little about the development of new products – are you inspired by feedback that you receive from your clients?

SC: We continuously optimise our products and solutions in close cooperation with our customers. Regarding glass coating, particular attention is given to the introduction of new processes (HDMSO, for instance), and the by-products that could be generated by the process.

PES: Can you tell us about the after-sales service you offer to your clients?

SC: Customers expect a long service life of our vacuum components, coupled with low downtimes. And our professional sales engineers and service technicians stand ready to provide fast and reliable hands-on support worldwide.

With our more than 500-strong sales and

service team, we offer our customers prompt and competent support, seven days a week, with reaction times of less than one hour. In addition to our service centers in Europe and the USA, we also have large service centers in Asia, such as those in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, and India, to be where our customers need us.

Our service starts with a comprehensive range of training options. Our technical training and operator training courses impart the knowledge and skills necessary for the proper operation and maintenance of vacuum related components and systems.

PES: Let’s imagine you can look into your crystal ball – how do you predict the coatings industry will develop over the next few years?

SC: We believe that, over the long term, the demand will be growing steadily in most regions. The global recession caused a demand contraction in 2010 that is not expected to be cleared before 2013. The

glass coating industry is expected to grow then in line with the worldwide economy. Due to the high cost of transportation of glass coated panels, the market could be driven by investments in emerging countries (South America, the Middle East).

PES: The effectiveness of your products to some extent depends upon the contractor that fits and operates them. How do you ensure skilled installation and use?

SC: During the design phase, we provide our customers with vacuum pumping simulations and recommendations on how to optimise the conductance for instance, or to take into account specific requirements, such as pumping redundancy or coating uniformity on glass.

Our Pfeiffer Vacuum Training Academy provides worldwide technical training on vacuum principles, combined with hands-on training on product use.

For more information, please visit: www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com

Inline sputtering system to coat glass with heat-insulating layers

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