Avantes - Measuring Up
In a high-tech world increasingly dependent on ultra-precise measurements, Avantes continues to earn accolades for its longtime contributions within the field of spectrometry.
From its origins in the Netherlands in the mid-1990s, the firm has been a leading innovator in the development of fiber-optic spectroscopy instruments and systems. Avantes spectrometers, light sources and fiber-optic samplings are installed in more than 53,000 systems worldwide.
With a mission to provide state-of-the-art, innovative measuring equipment that helps people live longer and healthier lives, Avantes-built applications are in use across many major industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical, device energy and aerospace
GLOBAL REACH
Although based in Europe, Avantes relies heavily on its overseas sales teams in the United States and China to reach markets in Asia and the Americas.
According to Damon Lenski, general manager of Colorado-based Avantes USA, there are three segments to the company’s business in the high-tech photonics industry.
“We have an academic or research market - that is, scientific customers that are doing research at the university level, national labs, that kind of thing,” he explains.
“We also have industrial customers that use our spectrometers for specific purposes to solve testing or measurement problems. And, the third classification is the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). They actually embed our spectrometer into their products.”
SPECIFIC USES
Lenski says he is always amazed by the diverse uses of Avantes applications and configurations.
“Our customers are involved in everything from the classification of fruit in Southern Europe and Asia where they are measuring for ripeness or internal defects to literally measuring the reflectance of duck feet in Borneo to measuring bird feathers or the dewlap (throat) of lizards in Mexico,” he says.
“Medical applications include blood analysis through the measurement of light as it passes through the blood or cancer detection through the interaction of light with skin or different tissues.”
Other markets include the agriculture and food sector, chemistry, environmental, lighting, semiconductors and solar energy.
THE TECHNOLOGIES
Avantes’ success did not come overnight. After all, it’s very difficult to break into most high-tech sectors. Customers are demanding, compliance standards are high, top quality is mandatory and regulations are beyond stringent.
But Avantes has negotiated those conditions for 30 years.
“You have to be very, very sure about your quality system and the specific requirements of compliance,” says Lenski. “Proving yourself as a viable manufacturer is very, very important.”
Spectroscopy is defined as the study of the absorption and emission of light and other radiation by matter. The boundaries of spectroscopy are increasingly expanding into new areas as researchers find new ways to use this technology to advance scientific research, quality control and solve problems for humans.
Avantes supports a number of measurement techniques when researching various materials. They include reflection, transmission, absorbance, irradiance, fluorescence, Raman, DOAS (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) and LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy).
CUSTOMER SERVICE
With Avantes’ research, development and production facilities all located in the Netherlands, the company’s North American presence has, for the past 20 years, been mostly dedicated to sales.
But, don’t forget the service! Lenski explains that much of the follow-up service is taken care of by his team in Colorado.
“Of course, there are some things that we have to send to the Netherlands, but over the years we’ve acquired a great deal of knowledge and so much of it is application specific,” he says.
“So, as long as we know how the instruments work and operate, we can usually work with customers on a number of different applications. We still use the same principles, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
WORKING WITH PROTOCASE
Avantes customer support and applications engineer Kurt Ameku says he’s extremely pleased with the quality and speed of delivery offered by the Protocase team.
“We needed an enclosure for a specific customer for an order from our solar simulator metrology project,” says Ameku.
“What we had was a clunky solution. It contained spectrometers and other light sources in separate housings making transport very difficult. We needed to come up with a compact solution with no loose parts inside. Protocase did a great job with an enclosure to bundle it up and it was very nice for the customer.”
For his part, Lenski says Protocase has a reputation its unmatched speed in manufacturing and delivering consistently quality products for its customers.
“Projects should not be held up because they’re waiting for housing and that’s something Protocase helps with,” he says.
THE FUTURE
After 30 years in business, the Avantes recipe has proved successful. Indeed, sales continue to increase by an impressive 25 per cent annually.
But don’t expect to see the Avantes name peppered across the devices that use its technologies, software and hardware. Many Avantes instruments and accessories are deployed in a wide variety of applications of its many OEM customers
Lenski summarizes that Avantes is more about technology, the software that drives it and the related parts and components than it is about the end device.
“It’s rare that somebody just buys a spectrometer without having a very specific purpose for it,” he says. “Some applications are very complicated, while others are simpler. We rarely know in intimate detail exactly what it’s going to be used for.”