Paradign, Peters Form Transatlantic Alliance

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Peters and Paradign—35 years of transatlantic partnership stand for sustainability. The Kempen-based full-range supplier of coatings for electronics and its distribution partner for North America has once again highlighted their strong alliance in the field of conformal coatings for electronic assemblies and casting compounds for electronics, sensor technology, and lighting electronics. The participation in the IPC SummerCom 2022 in May was an expression of this. "This electronics trade fair at the Wisconsin Centre in Milwaukee/USA is a highly regarded international exhibition and relevant for both global electronics manufacturers, suppliers and contract manufacturers," says Markus Wieler, Global Business Development Manager at Peters.

IPC is an association for connecting electronics industries. This is a worldwide trade and standardization organization based in Illinois, USA, which deals with the concerns of electronics manufacturing. Wieler, as OEM manager responsible for business processes with end customers, not only has an eye on the OEM business at the IPC SummerCom trade fair, but also the exchange with the contract manufacturers. Shoulder to shoulder with Paradign, current and new standards with the influence of Peters have been discussed by the technical team and competent application engineers at IPC SummerCom 2022. “This is still important for our industry in order to set the course for the high quality requirements in sensitive areas of electronics with our experience and expertise," emphasizes Markus Wieler. The coating engineer has his eye especially on the medical and automotive sectors. At IPC SummerCom, the Product Manager for Conformal Coatings, Stefan Schröder, as well as Richard J. Litavis Jr, President of Paradign Inc, actively represented Peters.

“The cooperation between Paradign Inc. and Lackwerke Peters GmbH & Co. KG exists since 1987 and has long been more than a business relationship," says Peters CEO Ralf Schwartz. The contract for the first Peters exclusive representation for the USA, Canada and Mexico was still concluded between the two respective company founders, Dipl. Engineer Werner Peters and Richard J. Litavis Senior, the father-in-law and father of today's company bosses. Managing Director Ralf Schwartz says: "Since then, our families have been amicably connected with each other."

Together, they have continuously expanded the business since the beginning of the cooperation and successfully completed numerous projects with well-known North American OEM companies. Furthermore, Paradign was responsible from the beginning for the technical and commercial support of the European OEMs, who at that time began to produce not only in Europe, but also in the USA, Canada or Mexico. 

Trust in the good business tradition exists between Ralf Schwartz and on the American side Richard J. Litavis Junior with his sister LeighAnn Litavis-West, Director of Operations  who jointly manage Paradign today. This second generation has seamlessly taken over the management and support of Peters products in North America. "The good and truly friendly relationship that has developed over the years and which is lived by both sides on a daily basis has endured," emphasizes also Richard J. Litavis Jr. Both partners are also positive about the future. The current trend towards local production of electronic components, especially for critical infrastructures, has already led to a noticeable revival of the markets in both Europe and North America.