With around 370 employees and 53 trainees (April 2021), VACOM is a medium-sized, family-run company near the university town of Jena in Thuringia. Thuringia is located in central Germany and has a good infrastructure. In addition, the company has a location in Belgium and an office in the USA.
Founded in 1992, the company offers expertise in the production of standard components and special vacuum technology components, as well as in precision and ultra-fine cleaning of components. In 2019, a new green production hall went into operation at the Großlöbichau production and technology center, with trees and hanging plants creating a pleasant working environment in the facility. This was followed in 2020 by the commissioning of the high-performance intralogistics system. In parallel, preparations were underway for a new, 2,000-square-meter industrial precision and ultra-fine cleaning facility with clean rooms.
VACOM supports partners and customers worldwide, spanning across a wide range of industries, especially in analytical technology, coating plant construction, nuclear fusion and plasma physics, the accelerator industry, semiconductor technology and, last but not least, the far-reaching field of research and development.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
VACOM: In line with the company motto Precision & Purity, VACOM delivers highest precision and cleanliness. The core competencies are vacuum mechanics, vacuum measurement technology and vacuum optics as well as electrical feedthroughs and ion getter pumps. The vacuum components are used in applications ranging from high vacuum to extreme ultra-high vacuum. VACOM is also well known for its design and manufacture of special components according to customer specifications, as well as the provision of vacuum components made of aluminum. For this purpose, the UHV- and XHV-suitable AluVaC® technology was specially developed. In addition to this, the new production facility, which was only launched in 2019, uses state-of-the-art milling and turning machines as well as the know-how for certified welding processes.
The sister company TREAMS GmbH (TREATMENT AND MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS) specializes in the development and manufacture of fully automated cleanliness and residual gas analyzers, vacuum bake-out ovens and thermal vacuum chambers.
The parts cleaning process chain ‘cleanFAB’ offers the possibility of combining technologies with and among each other. Its advantage lies in the defined and reproducible cleanliness. Only recently, the industrial ultra- and ultra-fine cleaning was infrastructurally expanded and equipped with additional facilities.
The production and technology center in the middle of Germany has expansion potential and good connections to the highway network, rail and air freight.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
VACOM: VACOM is about to launch new ion getter pumps in stages. The MERKURION® will be available in basic and pro versions, each of which will be divided into several sizes. The MERKURION® basic has an improved pumping speed compared to its predecessor series and will first be launched in two medium sizes (20 & 80 l/s). Smaller (3-10 l/s) and larger (150 & 300 l/s) pumps will follow later. VACOM is also launching an even more powerful version, the MERKURION® pro. It will be available with an average pumping speed of 35, 50 or 65 liters per second. Its outstanding features are in particular its extremely long service life of 70,000 h at 1E-06 mbar and its very good temperature homogeneity. The MERKURION® pro noble variant is also stable in noble gas.
VACOM brings movement to vacuum. In 2021, the gradual expansion of newest vacuum transfer components portfolio will begin. Starting with vacuum rotary feedthroughs this spring. The feedthroughs known since 2015 are undergoing a comprehensive revision. In order to be able to respond to the needs of customers in an even more dedicated manner in the future, VACOM® is pursuing the familiar basic / pro / extended product policy here. All MeTraVaC® transfer components are based on the principle of magnetic force coupling. The components do not require dynamic seals, they transmit motion precisely and leak-free down to lowest pressure ranges. Based on this technology, VACOM will introduce further products, such as rotary/sliding feedthroughs to the market.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
VACOM: VACOM offers products and services related to vacuum technology from development, processing to delivery from a single source. Our product groups serve a wide cross-section of vacuum applications: Vacuum chambers and special components, standard components, electrical feedthroughs, vacuum measurement technology, vacuum optics with vacuum sight glasses and glass-to-metal connections as well as optical fiber feedthroughs, diaphragm bellows, mechanical feedthroughs, vacuum compatible screws, vacuum valves, ion getter pumps and vacuum traps and filters.
Industrial ultra- and ultra-fine cleaning is an essential prerequisite for clean vacuum processes and effective vacuum applications, especially for UHV and XHV. Our parts cleaning process structure cleanFAB combines a globally unique technology mix and provides more than 50 cleaning programs to meet the highest cleanliness requirements of industry and R&D.
Our expanded service portfolio includes various tests and certifications, processes and services for product finishing, vacuum-specific measurements, as well as consulting and training.
Clean & Green: VACOM currently has the world’s most advanced factory with driverless transport vehicles, self-organizing production control and one of the most advanced logistics systems. VACOM is the only ones in the vacuum industry to have achieved Industry 4.0
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
VACOM: The application areas for vacuum technology are booming in all industries, and evidently, VACOM is seeing an increase in orders in spite of the Corona crisis. This applies to both manufacturing and industrial component cleaning.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
VACOM: The use of vacuum technologies is trending upward. The miniaturization of technology and the overall digitalization of society are shaping our times. Thus, saving resources is becoming increasingly important, both economically and ecologically. The technical feasibility of high-tech products depends more and more on how clean production can be carried out under vacuum conditions. Today, no one can or wants to do without digital media, for example. However, display production is hardly possible without vacuum technology. In everyday life, for example, we live with state-of-the-art coatings, such as for Optics. And if the future of mankind lies “in the stars,” then it also needs vacuum technology in aerospace.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
VACOM: VACOM’s Vacuum Classes and Purity Classes provide the basis for qualifying and planning defined component cleanliness and outgassing for our own products and those of our customers. VACOM has many innovative products that stand out from its broad product range. These include the AluVaC® lightweight chambers and components with low outgassing specification for ultra-high vacuum. The high-strength aluminum alloy poses special challenges for precise and tight welding which VACOM masters perfectly. One of the special features of AluVac®-CF-components: the patented cutting edge is made entirely of the aluminum alloy. No stainless-steel or additional coating contents are used – a novum in the technology of metal-sealed vacuum connections. The cleanliness measuring device VIDAM® was used to make the cleanliness of components measurable. The new OFD-extended optical fiber feedthroughs are suitable for high-temperature applications, since they meet the highest requirements, especially those of research. Last but not least, the NOVION® as a multifunction vacuum meter, launched in 2020, received the Thuringian Innovation Award. This patented sensor has revolutionized traditional vacuum measurement technology and realizes simplified measurement, regulation and control.
The company’s own research and development department deserves special mention. About one in ten of VACOM’s workforce works here. These are technicians, engineers and scientists drawn from a wide range of scientific fields. The team is currently involved in a project for the European Space Agency ESA and our specially developed product would be on its way to Jupiter in 2022.
View in our ‘cleanFAB’, where components from intern and extern will be cleaned under specified cleanroom conditions up to ISO 4. On the right, you can see an ultra-sonic fine cleaning system. At the back left, there is a hybrid chamber cleaning system for the combined use of solvent and water.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
VACOM: Despite the Corona restrictions, VACOM expects an increase in sales just like in previous years. The establishment of the Research and Development department was a correct and important step into the future. This foundation leads recently to the development of the multifunction vacuum meter NOVION®. The high demand from our partners and customers has proven that our product developments successfully meet and consider their needs. Similar positive reactions will be expected for the upcoming product launches in the next time. Users can currently order our new mechanical transfer components of the MeTraVaC® series and the new MERKURION® ion getter pumps. More variants and other new vacuum products will be launched on the market in 2021.
VACOM VAKUUM KOMPONENTEN & MESSTECHNIK GMBH
In den Brückenäckern 3, D-07751 Großlöbichau / Germany
Phone: +49 3641 8734-0
Web: www.vacom-vacuum.com
Email: inquiry@vacom.de
Editor: Roland Hahn
Photos: VACOM
