Universal Instruments leaves Dover portfolio

Citation

(2006), "Universal Instruments leaves Dover portfolio", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 18 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2006.21918dab.005

Universal Instruments leaves Dover portfolio

Universal Instruments leaves Dover portfolio

Keywords: Electronics industry, Assembly

Universal Instruments Corporation announces that it is leaving the portfolio of technology businesses held by its current parent company, Dover Corporation, by mutual agreement.

The electronics assembly equipment manufacturing and service businesses of Universal Instruments are in the process of being acquired by new owners. The potential new owners are established businesses with strong track records in technology markets that will provide continuity to customers, employees and vendors worldwide. A further announcement on this will be made in due course.

In addition, the company is realigning to improve the focus on Universal's core market sector of surface mount and insertion mount electronics component assembly to drive growth in its global market share, and will continue to develop its strong product portfolio that features prominent brands such as the Genesis and AdVantis placement platforms and the award-winning Lightning placement head (Plate 2).

Part of the improved company structure is the formation of an autonomous new business called Unovis, which will focus on providing specialized assembly solutions. Unovis, a combination of Universal's Advanced Semiconductor Assembly Division (ASA), Odd Form Assembly Division (OFA) and SMT Laboratory functions and Hover-Davis direct feeder business, will be headed by Roland Heitmann and is staffed by more than 100 employees.

Plate 2 Jeroen Schmits

Commenting on this announcement, David Van Loan, President and CEO Dover Technologies International, Inc., stated: “... this divestiture represents the culmination of the strategic review of the Dover Technologies portfolio. Making decisions of this kind is never easy, particularly with respect to a company that we have owned for a long time.”

Jeroen Schmits, President of Universal Instruments says: “Our changing business model and our ambition to grow Universal's global market share through absolute focus on our key sector means that partnering with a company that appreciates and accepts the cyclical market environments in which we operate is the right decision for Universal. We will continue our intense development schedule and manufacturing facilities in Binghamton, New York, and in Shekou, China. We will soon be announcing new platform equipment configurations that will see us surpass our global competitors in high speed, flexible surface mount manufacturing.”