Valley manufacturer's first product gives new life to older Semitool technology

If you’re looking to build retrofittable control systems for older Semitool equipment, there could be no better place to start than with the people who helped create the equipment in the first place.

ClassOne Technology, a startup business that has been operating quietly on the west side of Kalispell since the beginning of the year, is staffed with former Semitool and Applied Materials engineers and technicians.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based ClassOne Equipment, a leader in the business of equipment refurbishing for the semiconductor and emerging technology sectors.

“A lot of equipment gets antiquated, and the parts are no longer available, even to refurbishers,” Kevin Witt, Vice President of Technology, said. “There are improvements that need to be made to tools to make them more modern, and this requires engineering and expertise. What better place to find people well-trained in Semitool equipment than in Kalispell?”

Witt was in San Francisco last week at SEMICON West, a major industry trade show, to unveil the company’s first product, the Polaris controller. The product is an advanced field-retrofittable control system that replaces the aging 302 control system used in many Semitool legacy tools.

“The brains and electronics for one of the older Semitool pieces of equipment had gotten so old and it was almost impossible to get parts for,” Witt said. “So we hired Tim McGlenn, who was responsible for the development of control systems at Semitool — he was the father of all Semitool control systems.”

Customers with pieces in which they have made a huge capital investment can now extend the life of the equipment considerably, Witt said.

“Some of these tools were half a million dollars or more,” Witt said. “You don’t want to junk them because a $1,000 computer board goes bad. But if you can’t replace the computer board and no one has them, you’re kind of stuck.”

He compared it to taking an older-model car with 150,000 miles and fitting it with a computerized system that provides new technology, such as satellite navigation, and extends the vehicle’s life for another 150,000 miles.

“Semitool’s spray solvent and spray acid tools have been the workhorses of the industry for decades with hundreds of units installed around the world. Because of this, refurbished tools continue to be highly sought after,” Byron Exarcos, president of ClassOne Equipment, said in a press release. “The Polaris control system brings all the advantages of a modern control system to a time-tested platform while maintaining and enhancing the key elements of performance and cost effectiveness.

“This competitively priced, critical update will breathe new life into an industry standard platform and extend its useful life for years.”

Witt spent 10 years at Semitool and left soon after it was sold to Applied Materials. He also was one of the founders of Zinc Air, a Columbia Falls-area business focusing on the creation of a new energy storage battery. He has 25 years  of experience focused on the development and commercialization of new wet chemical processing platforms.

The other group head in Kalispell is Vice President of Operations McGlenn, who has 26 years of experience in semiconductors, including leading the software and electronics development of Semitool controllers.

Win Carpenter, as vice president of the ClassOne’s Wet Process Division, is technically the head of ClassOne Technology, but he is based in Phoenix. Witt was asked to be part of the ClassOne group by Carpenter, whom Witt knew from his Semitool days.   

“I’m the VP of technology, but in any startup we all wear a bunch of different hats,” Witt said. “I’m responsible for technology and the process for developing it. I also write press releases and help with sales and make coffee. I’m actually framing my own office in the building to save money. We are trying to be smart about what we do.”

ClassOne Technology currently operates with 12 employees out of a 5,000-square-foot space off of Meridian Road. Witt said he can easily see bringing in three to four new people by the end of the year and having a 50- to 60-person staff within a few years.

The company soon will look for more space in the Flathead Valley for manufacturing, and Witt said the facility will probably end up at about 20,000 square feet. He anticipates that ClassOne will move into a new site within six months to a year.

He said the company had tried to keep a low profile until the announcement of its first product in San Francisco.

“We’ve been a stealth company — it’s a pretty competitive market,” he said. “We wanted to use the big trade show of the year SEMICON, to announce the existence of our operation. This is our big splash.”

Though dealing with its products, the company has no affiliation with Applied Materials, which purchased Semitool in 2009.

 “In some regards we compete with each other,” Witt said.

“We’re keeping older tools in the field longer, and the availability of a used or refurbished tool prevents them from selling new ones.

“But they’re focused on leading-edge high-tech, we’re focused on trailing-edge technology for emerging alternative markets.”

For more information, visit www.classoneequipment.com.

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.