For nearly a century, Vitronics Soltec has provided innovative and reliable soldering systems to the electrical and electronics manufacturing industries. Vitronics Soltec is now a global leader with facilities, systems, and expertise spread around the world as the technology of electronic connections moves ahead into the 21st Century.
The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturing company under the name ZEVA. This name had much to do with the introduction of an innovative product: the electric soldering iron (as differing from then-popular petrol and gas irons). Major customers included Philips Radio and Dutch Telecom.
During the 1970's, ZEVA designed and developed a comprehensive range of automatic wave soldering machines. By the end of the decade, these soldering machines were equipped with infeed and outfeed conveyors. Thus began a second product line, and export became an important part of the company's total business.
Early in the 1980's, ZEVA changed its name to SOLTEC, an abbreviation of SOLdering TEChnology. At the end of 1983 SOLTEC was acquired by DOVER Inc., today a US$4.5 billion financial conglomerate listed on the NYSE. In the mid-80's SOLTEC concentrated on the development and manufacturing of automatic soldering machines and automatic board handling systems. SOLTEC wave soldering technology concentrated on the demand for no-clean processes. Cleaning was seen in Europe as a non-value added process. SOLTEC's distribution and services network grew worldwide.
Reflow systems were developed in 1989 to meet the increasing demands of SMT soldering. In 1992 SOLTEC changed its IR-based reflow program to pure forced convection technology to meet the increasing demand for high-quality reproducible thermal profiling. SOLTEC introduced the use of inert gas technology which the company had already developed for its wave soldering systems. The development and sales of automatic board handling systems were discontinued to enable the company to focus on becoming the world leader in both wave and reflow soldering.
SOLTEC Singapore's technical center and a service support center in Penang, Malaysia were added in 1992 as sales and service support centers to support and train Asian customers locally.
In 1997 Vitronics Corporation of Newmarket, NH, recognized as one of the world's leading suppliers of SMT reflow soldering technology, was acquired by Dover Technologies, parent company of Vitronics Soltec BV. Vitronics Corp. had long been recognized as the first company to bring conveyorized area source infra-red reflow soldering technology to the production of surface mount (SMT) electronic assemblies. The teaming up of Vitronics and Soltec prompted a name change - to VITRONICS SOLTEC. Existing Vitronics facility, personnel, and resources, as well as the North American SOLTEC facility, came together under one roof in a new facility, a new North American headquarters, in Stratham, NH.
In 1998 VITRONICS SOLTEC GmbH was created to serve the German market better; also, Vitronics Soltec N.A. moved to a new sales, service, and manufacturing facility in Stratham, New Hampshire.
In 2001, Vitronics Soltec moved to the forefront of the global conversion to lead-free soldering with the unveiling of its "5 Steps to Lead-Free Implementation" program originally conceived and developed by Vitronics Soltec’s Technology Group. This knowledge-sharing program has since successfully helped hundreds of electronics assemblers build robust lead-free soldering processes since its inception. The program is built upon a foundation of years of research and teamwork with customers, consortia, and academia. It has been distributed worldwide on CD-ROM’s and has been presented at organized seminars and technology tours across Europe and the Americas. The program catapulted Vitronics Soltec to the global forefront of environmentally-friendly lead-free soldering technology.
April 2002 saw the opening of a new sales and support office in Shanghai, China. The new sales and support office added to Vitronics Soltec’s existing Asia Pacific offices, with a key installation in Singapore and representation in Korea and Malaysia (Penang). Vitronics Soltec maintains worldwide manufacturing, sales, and service facilities in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific region.
In the beginning of 2002, Vitronics Soltec introduced its latest development in the soldering field: the mySelective soldering machine. Reflowed PCB's only need some components selectively soldered. This robot-controlled machine can solder single points and/or multiple points. The mySelective family brings a new dimension to ownership of a selective soldering system. Individual solderjoint soldering process is fully controlled. A new dimension is added to the selective soldering with the use of an simple operator interface for programming :
In February of 2003, Vitronics Soltec announced the remarkable milestone of the shipment of its 1,000th Delta-series wave soldering system; in August of that same year, the 1,000th XPM-Series reflow soldering system was shipped.
Vitronics Soltec celebrated the Grand Opening of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Oosterhout, the Netherlands in April 2004, not far from the company’s previous location. The move was prompted by the company’s continued growth and need for additional manufacturing, R & D and training facilities. The move to the new building represented a 60% increase in space over its previous complex.
Today, VITRONICS SOLTEC is arguably the leading provider of soldering systems, technology, and applications knowledge in the world.
The current VITRONICS SOLTEC product line includes the following systems:
Wave soldering
- Delta 5/7. This machine gives the customer exactly what it wants: low cost of ownership, high yields, ease of use, and 24/7 repeatability and reliability.
- SelectX™. The only selective debridging tool in the world, the solution to one of the last process difficulties in wave soldering.
- Delta 3. This mid-end wave soldering machine, manufactured in China, brings the best value for the mid range customers, available for the Global mid-range market.
- MW228 is the local Chinese manufactured wave soldering machine for the Chinese market.
Reflow soldering
- XPM3. The Vitronics Soltec XPM3-series represents the next step in the extended line of thermal processing systems that have proven its lead-free capability worldwide and established a reputation for superior reliability.
- myReflow. This line of ovens includes superior heat transfer, which result in very low deta T's, even at high production speeds. Build in Oosterhout, Holland, the myReflow is well positioned to meet the European high-end user requirements.
- MR933. Design by our Chinese engineering team and manufactured in Suzhou, China. Available and supported in the Asia Pacific countries.
- MR2 is the mid-range reflow machine, engineered and manufactured in the Chinese plant.
Selective soldering
- mySelective 6748 (400mm,16in) and 6749 (600mm, 24in). This machine is the only selective soldering system in the market that combines a Multi Wave and a Select Wave soldering station in one single platform. This brings you maximum flexibility in a High Mix/ High Volume production environment.
- mySelective 6745 (400mm, 16in). This machine includes the proven Select Wave technology of the mySelective 6748. The system is designed for a medium throughput environment with an economical budget and with an easy off-line programming.
- mySelective 6747 (400mm, 16in). This machine includes the proven Multi Wave technology of the mySelective 6748. The system is designed for a high throughput environment with an economical budget and without programming requirements.
In order to meet stringent service requirements, VITRONICS SOLTEC's support structure today consists of Technical Centers in the Netherlands, North America, Germany, Korea, Singapore, Korea and China. Regional offices are located throughout the United States.
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