Publication date: 13 March 2008
Mike Scimeca, the founder of FCT, comes across as an easygoing, laid-back type of guy from Colorado. He has a chemistry degree from the University of Florida (graduated 1987), and subsequently worked for a Cookson Distributor selling a range of their chemical products.
In 1991, he went off on his own, and founded Florida CirTech, a company specialising in Chemicals and Metals, primarily for the Bare Board industry. The other shareholder and partner in this venture is Glen Sikorcin, currently the VP of Florida CirTech.
Mike’s brother, Tom, completed a Batchelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a PhD from the University of Hawaii. He finished his PhD in 1988, and subsequently spent two years lecturing at the University of Tokyo, in Japan. In 1990 Tom decided to enter industry, and spent three years working with NTT in Japan. Eventually, in 1993, Tom decided to quit Japan, and came back to work with Mike in the business. Eight years later, in 2001, Tom took over as President of Florida CirTech.
Around this time, they set up both FCT Assembly, or FCTA as it’s known, and FCT Water. Right from the start, Mike decided to focus FCTA on lead-free solder, making them one of the first specialist distributors of this product in the US.
The logic behind this move was that as a supplier of chemicals, FCT was able to develop its own range of fluxes. It then tied up with Nihon Superior, distributing their SN100C Solder products, including Bar, Wire and Paste. Mike and Tom had seen the value of lead-free, and guessed that it’d soon have an important role to play in Electronics Manufacturing in the US.
FCT Water is a specialist chemical company providing chemicals to purify water – having applications in any number of manufacturing or industrial industries, including of course electronics, medical and pharmaceutical.
Continuing on this growth curve, FCT then acquired FINE LINE Stencil in 2004, bringing a range of both Laser Cut and Electroformed Stencils to the product books. FINE LINE is based in Memphis. In 2005, they then acquired A-Laser, a micromachining service provider based out of Oregon.
The whole strategy of growth and acquisition is based on the initial expertise of the company, along with a requirement to get increased mindshare from their representative companies across the US.
When asked about future growth for FCT, Mike replied, “The future looks good for FCT in the Americas. Currently the US market is three to five years behind Europe and Asia in their adoption of lead-free – about 10% of the market have currently made the switch, with more following all the time.”
He continued on to say, “However, our real growth expectations are with our new operation FCT Asia, which was set up last year. The core business for FCT Asia will initially be following approvals from US Companies, who are now moving their manufacturing to lower cost markets.”
FCT is a well-established company, with the group currently employing between 40 and 50 people. In addition, FCTA currently sells through 12 Rep Firms, and five Distributors. A-Laser uses a single Rep (most of their sales being direct), Florida CirTech three Reps and three Distributors, and FCT Water has four Reps and one Distributor.
Their business in Asia is based out of Singapore, where they partner with Electro Loy. They have two Chinese plants, one in Suzhou and one in Shinzen, where they manufacture their materials.
Although FCTA is their first operation in China, both Mike and Tom assure me that Florida Cirtech will soon follow – along with their range of Hot Air, Nickel, Gold and Immersion Tin Surface Finishes.
For Further Information Visit: http://www.floridacirtech.com
