/> Both WK Lee and Günter Lauber, head of the SIPLACE team and CEO of ASM Assembly Systems, confirmed that the integration is making good progress and pointed out that the first cost and efficiency benefits have already been achieved through the shared sourcing of parts and components, in addition to successful collaboration of both teams in the area of R&D.

We pointed out from the very start that ASM together with the SIPLACE team wants to enter new markets. We are interested in growth. We saw great strategic opportunities in our different regional focus areas, in the fact that our product portfolios perfectly complement each other, and in the solid position of both companies in their respective markets. All this has turned out to be true. The daily co-operation confirms our decision. Right from the start, both organizations have shown excellent commitment and motivation, especially in joint and overlapping projects The pace is exhilarating and I am very much looking forward to all the fantastic solutions the teams are working on right now, said WK Lee, the CEO of ASM Pacific Technology, during his visit in Munich.

Both companies operate with separate sales organizations, yet they want to increasingly develop synergies in their sourcing activities and in particular in terms of R&D, both organizations can learn a lot from each other. A cross-company team, working together with our partners has already identified sustainable and future oriented solutions in the areas of shared parts and components, explained Günter Lauber, CEO of the SIPLACE team. Over the medium term we will achieve considerable efficiency gains in our sourcing activities.

Both managers confirm that the integration process of the entire organization is now complete – with the exception of some final governmental approvals in China . The SIPLACE team has been integrated as a business unit; the already proven and successful Cluster organization will remain unchanged and depending on requirements the sales structure in selected regions will be expanded. The high efficiency of SIPLACE’s cluster organization is also reflected in its growing market shares in the booming SMT market. Here, too, our expectations have been completely met, said WK Lee during his visit in Munich a little less than four months after the acquisition.