2024 – 2020
2024 is all about expansion at Plasmatreat: the construction of the fourth production hall at the headquarters in Steinhagen, which began in 2023, will be occupied by production at the end of the year following the official opening in the fall of 2024. The company's production capacity has thus doubled.
The global network has also been expanded: In addition to the Plasmatreat Austria branch at the beginning of 2024, Plasmatreat Mexico, Plasmatreat BeNeLux and a sales office in the Czech Republic were ceremoniously opened during the course of the year. At the end of 2023, the company presented a world first: the REDOX®-Tool. This technology, which was used for the first time by customers in industrial production, enables the removal of oxide layers using reducing plasma and thus replaces environmentally harmful fluxing agents in soldering processes for semiconductor and power module production.
Plasmatreat also had a successful year in 2022, as the company reached another milestone at the end of the year: the 10,000th plasma system was successfully sold. Not only that, but also the expansion of the management team to include the sons of Managing Director Christian Buske, Magnus and Lukas Buske, made 2022 a special year. With Magnus and Lukas Buske as the 2nd generation in the management team, Plasmatreat is well equipped for a successful future as a family business.
In mid-2022, Plasmatreat launched three new plasma nozzles on the market to expand the large product portfolio and drive the company's technical development. With the RD2005PAD, a rotary nozzle for coating with PlasmaPlus® technology is now available on the market for the first time. With the new PFW10LT, Plasmatreat has developed a low-temperature nozzle that also activates thermally sensitive materials and surfaces with high intensity. The new PFW100 has been added to the portfolio to treat flat components or surfaces at high process speeds and across a large width.
In 2021 and 2020, Plasmatreat's international network was expanded to include subsidiaries in Diepoldsau, Switzerland, in the Spanish capital Madrid and in Gothenburg, Sweden. At the same time, the importance of plasma for the battery industry increased rapidly: surface treatment was regularly used for the assembly of battery modules in series production at major automotive manufacturers and suppliers. 2020 marked the beginning of a new era for Plasmatreat: for the first time, the company developed and supplied a complete system for the semiconductor industry. Plasmatreat thus became a system supplier for BOSCH Co. and a certified and audited supplier for the semiconductor industry.
2019 – 2015
In 2019, Plasmatreat opened the Plasmatreat Academy, the new technology and research center in Steinhagen. The 1400 square meter facility will be used to work on new applications for plasma technology. The new technology center has event and training rooms for up to 200 participants, as well as rooms for mechanical engineering and customer training.
The development of the international group of companies has not only taken place in the new technology center in Germany, but also in the rest of the world: a subsidiary has been established in South Korea and in the USA, the Plasmatreat technology center in Silicon Valley in Hayward, California was opened in 2017.
In 2015, Plasmatreat celebrated its 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company was named world market leader for atmospheric pressure plasma systems and received the Future Champion Award. The company's customers include many well-known companies such as BASF, Ford, Miele and Heidelberger Druck.
2014 – 2010
In 2014, Plasmatreat wins the "GREEN GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2014" in the "Green Research / Technology" category in the USA for the environmental friendliness, economic efficiency and sustainability of its Openair-Plasma® pretreatment technology.
Around 2012, the company discovered the island and city-state of Singapore and opened a branch there for the South East Asia region.
With the use of Openair-Plasma® for direct glazing in automotive construction (Ford), Plasmatreat created another innovation on the world market in 2011 and became a license partner. The same year saw the official opening of the sales office in Birkenfeld, near Pforzheim and the southern German automotive industry.
2010 saw the launch of the PT-Release plasma coating, a joint project with system partner CeraCon for the release agent-free processing of PU plastics.
2009 – 2005
During 2009, the company expanded its presence in Asia and Europe, establishing subsidiaries in Shanghai, China and Istanbul, Turkey.
In 2007, the first industrial series application of PlasmaPlus® made it possible to use plasma coatings in series under normal pressure for cleaning and anti-corrosion coating of cast aluminum engine housings (ZF-TRW Automotive).
The Openair-Plasma® technology was used for the first time on a large scale in shipbuilding to bond the insulation of the world's largest LNG tankers (STX France) in 2006.
Between 2005 and 2006, further subsidiaries were established: the first subsidiary in the USA, in Elgin, and a subsidiary of Plasmatreat GmbH in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2005, plasma technology found its way into medical technology with the development of a process for sealing and disinfecting glass ampoules (ROTA).
2004 – 2000
In 2004, joint patents with VW AG, Wolfsburg, and Sika AG, Zurich, for the anti-corrosion coating of aluminum prior to bonding were registered and the subsidiary in Venice, Italy, was established.
The year before, Plasmatreat introduced fully digitalized generator technology, which increased the performance of the Openair-Plasma® jets and enabled continuous performance monitoring. The first large-scale application of atmospheric pressure plasma for structural bonding of refrigerated vehicle bodies (Schmitz Cargobull) also made this year special.
Around 2000, Plasmatreat set one of its greatest milestones with the invention of the rotating plasma jet. The first RD1004 rotating plasma jet is used to generate cold plasma. This plasma jet is particularly suitable for thermally sensitive and geometrically complex surfaces and materials. The patented rotation principle distributes the plasma effect evenly over the materials to be treated.
During this time, a worldwide network of subsidiaries was gradually established, e.g. through the acquisition of competitors or the establishment of own subsidiaries, e.g. in England, Japan, France and Canada.
1999 - 1995
The company grew steadily from 1999 to 1996, developing the revolutionary Openair-Plasma® technology and winning its first customers in the automotive industry, e.g. for the production of EPDM profiles or headlamps. Plasmatreat also developed the PlasmaPlus® plasma coating technology during this period.
The desire of Plasmatreat's first customer to pre-treat the adhesive groove of car headlamps in a fast, in-line process so that the adhesive used to bond the headlamps would hold reliably gave rise to an idea for which Christian Buske filed a patent in 1995: Plasma was now applied to the substrate with pinpoint accuracy using simple "open air" compressed air through a special jet. The new process not only made it possible to create completely new material combinations, it also eliminated the need for environmentally harmful solvent-based wet chemistry and low-pressure chambers. Water-based paint and adhesive systems could now be used. In addition, fine cleaning with plasma replaces costly washing processes and subsequent energy-intensive drying. The Openair-Plasma® process itself requires only simple compressed air and electricity.
