Asymtek Celebrates 25 Years

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Alec Babiarz is one of the co-founders of Asymtek and now serves as president of business development. John Byers joined Asymtek’s parent company Nordson in 1994 and became part of the Asymtek management team in 1997; Asymtek president in 2006. Babiarz and Byers spoke with SMT about the company’s 25-year milestone coming up in June.

Q: What was Asymtek like 25 years ago when you first opened your doors?

Babiarz: In the early 1980s we started working on ideas in my garage, Phil Maiorca’s spare bedroom, and using Bob Ciardella’s contacts in the San Francisco Bay Area. We tried venture funding; however, we were told that a group of engineers would have no chance of success.

On June 6th, 1983, we first incorporated and officially opened our doors. The first building was 1200-sq.ft. Capitalization was $10,000. There were five of us: Mark Allen (now deceased), Bob Ciardella, Roy Ciardella, Phil Maiorca, and myself. My sister Johanna Conant helped out. Most of us didn’t get paid for 6 months.

Q: How has business changed?

Babiarz: Originally, Asymtek only offered engineering consulting. Then, about 18 months into the venture, we started selling a benchtop motion system (A-303). The products featured menu-driven PC software for easy motion control. We sold our first unit to Teledyne TAC (now part of Newport). Asymtek was using a cable-drive design back then, based on a concept for a Hewlett-Packard plotter.

Byers: That cable-drive system remains in use today, and is a standard for automated fluid dispensing equipment. There are original systems still working out there.

Babiarz: Then, in 1985, Asymtek started selling the benchtop motion-control system with a dispense head on it – creating a benchtop automated dispenser. The idea came from EFD founder John Carter, who pointed out that by adding the dispenser to the robot, you could solve someone’s problem. And if you solved someone’s problem, you sold something. That concept remains true today. We got similar advice from Jim Klocke, who joined our company in 1987.

The Asymtek team (Babiarz top left) in the company’s early days. Photo circa 1985.

A customer suggested the gantry-style system, which put the motion system above the work, and then we added motorized Z-axis motion. We kept improving these systems, developing new software, and adding process controls, while trying to adapt to heighten speed, accuracy, and precision. We had many innovations through the years. The idea of jetting adhesive probably was the most significant. It’s hard to believe that we first started with jetting in 1992.

We were acquired by Nordson, one of our customers, in 1996. We moved locations several times since the garage, and presently have two buildings in Carlsbad, Calif., as well as offices around the world.

Q: How has the customer base changed over the years?

Babiarz: Today our customer base is more focused. Back in the early days, we sold anything we could sell. Now we sell only precision dispensing equipment.

Byers: We expanded into offering more automation for in-line/high-volume work.

Q: Where do you see the company in 10 to 25 years?

Byers: We will sell dispensing equipment into more markets, increasingly different types of products, beyond our core base of SMT and packaging electronics and into growing markets like solar and fuel cells.

Babiarz: Yes, still focused on dispensing. We see dispensing becoming more automated, with more vision tools and less programming. The demand is for faster dispensing in increasingly smaller amounts. Also, we will grow with the materials industry.

Q: How do you keep your base of operations in the U.S., with globalization and outsourcing so prevalent?

Byers: Lean manufacturing and design for lean manufacturing. We have some very smart folks who continue to come up with creative solutions to design our products for manufacturing.

Babiarz: We have applied lean concepts throughout the organization and have increased productivity with lean techniques, including non-manufacturing departments like finance, customer service, applications, and supply chain management. We use common platforms and software and encourage employee ideas.

Byers: We have developed innovative manufacturing methods that keep us competitive even in Southern California. For example, we’ve grown through the years and not increased our space dedicated to manufacturing. We even vertically integrated some manufacturing operations, adding a fabrication shop instead of buying from outside sheet-metal suppliers.

Q: Who has worked here longest?

Byers: We have seven employees who have been with Asymtek for 20 or more years, with Alec being here the longest. Two more will celebrate that milestone later this year. These people work in sales, administrative management, new business development, engineering, technical support, and manufacturing operations. Over 70 employees have worked here for over 10 years.

Q: How do you plan to celebrate the company’s 25-year anniversary?

Byers: We’re constructing a timeline to commemorate major milestones over the years. We also are planning employee events and some customer recognition activities.

Babiarz: The best celebration is to kick off the next 25 years.