Buckley Systems expanding for the future

Buckley Systems expanding for the future

Ion implantation technology leader Buckley Systems has expanded locally, building on earlier expansion in North America as demand for its precision electromagnets continues to grow.

Based in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington, the company has almost doubled its factory space to improve workflow and meet increased demand.

To aid its on-going work, Buckley Systems has also acquired a 50 per cent stake in the Canadian based ion technology company D-Pace.

Buckley Systems and D-Pace have worked together for 20 years in the design, development and manufacture of beamline systems, beam diagnostics, and ion sources.

The formalisation of the cooperation has resulted in the development of an ion source test facility, which both companies use and lease out for certification and verification of products.

“With D-Pace doing the design and ourselves the manufacturing, we have reduced the time to complete projects,” said Mark Stolten, Buckley Systems’ Chief Operating Officer.

PhD students from Universities in New Zealand and Canada carry out much of the development work, which is cutting-edge discovery science, in conjunction with Buckley Systems and D-Pace.

On a more practical front, Buckley Systems’ expansion into a neighbouring building in Mt Wellington has allowed the heavy fabrication and large coil-forming operations of electromagnet manufacturing to be carried out more easily with time savings.

“The demand for larger-screen implantation machinery has seen some of the magnets exceeding 25 tons and stretching the resources of the existing building,” said Mr. Stolten.

The space freed up in the existing plant allows greater throughput of smaller magnets, giving the business the agility to react to market demands, he said.

Buckley Systems has a 30 year history of manufacturing ion implantation and particle acceleration systems in New Zealand, and resisted approaches to move over $85 million of production in 2015 offshore.

All the production is exported and is used in semiconductor manufacturing, oncology treatment facilities, medical and scientific diagnostic devices and physics research facilities.

ends

© Scoop Media