Repair café for chip machines in Nijmegen conquers Europe
A company that is a world leader in reviving machines in the semiconductor industry has settled in Nijmegen with the aim of conquering Europe.
A company that is a world leader in reviving machines in the semiconductor industry has settled in Nijmegen with the aim of conquering Europe.
A high-tech repair café. Not for home, garden and kitchen appliances, but for chip machines. The specialist in this area, the American Odyssey, is introducing a European network from Nijmegen.
Odyssey is world leader in radio frequency (RF) repair and service and knows how to breathe new life into machines in the semiconductor industry. The company was founded twenty years ago and has specialised in this niche market. The company has a headquarters in Texas and a branch office in Singapore. In March 2020 Odyssey chose to establish itself in Europe. They choose Nijmegen.
Huge demand
The timing seemed rather awkward, because at that very moment the corona pandemic erupted. However, this was not a problem for the high-tech repair site: the demand for chips has actually only increased. The chip shortages are great and so is the demand for the company's services. Chip manufacturers are working at the top of their game and still it is not enough.
Emergency repairs
One day of reduced production costs a lot of money in the semiconductor industry. "So if there is an acute problem, our customers prefer that we solve it today," says Angelo Andres, Odyssey Europe's general manager. "We do emergency repairs. But also regular maintenance to prevent machines from shutting down. We have the knowledge to get almost any device and machine in the semiconductor industry up and running again." The adage here is that repair is more sustainable than buying a new machine.
Maintenance is customisation
Chip manufacturer NXP is one of Odyssey's major customers. This was an important reason for the company to settle in Nijmegen. Nijmegen has a lot of knowledge and expertise when it comes to the semiconductor industry and RF technology. The company is located at the Novio Tech Campus, near the factory of NXP. Andres: "Nijmegen is also close to Schiphol Airport and is not far from Düsseldorf, and therefore has good accessibility. We can also find well-trained personnel here. What we repair and maintain is always customised. We are therefore looking for technicians who are very good with their hands, but who also have a lot of personal insight. For this we work together with the ROC Nijmegen and Fontys University of Applied Sciences, among others. All of Europe is served from Nijmegen. The fact that the European Union is going to invest heavily in the semiconductor industry in Europe is good news for Odyssey.
Extra space and people
Andres himself has a background at NXP semiconductors. Odyssey Europe started under his leadership and the staff has more than doubled by now. If it is up to Andres, that number will be increased significantly as the company grows. The company also wants to invest in extra work and laboratory space and will be supported in this by the municipality of Nijmegen, the Novio Tech Campus and development company Oost NL. Oost NL gives innovative companies that strengthen the East Netherlands economic structure an extra impulse. Odyssey will also focus on the repair and maintenance of medical devices that use RF technology, such as MRI scanners.
This article is made in a cooperation between Novio Tech Campus and our editorial staff. Innovation Origins is an independent journalistic platform that carefully chooses its partners and only cooperates with companies and institutions that share our mission: spreading the story of innovation. That way, we can offer our readers valuable stories that are created according to journalistic guidelines.
