Albany Democrat-Herald
December 25, 2005
Unlimited capabilities
By Alex Paul
 Albany
Democrat-Herald
The recent acquisition of Corvallis software firm IDX Robotics
by Albany-based MEI is expected to enhance the company’s position as a developer
and producer of wet processing equipment for microchip producers and high-tech
manufacturing systems.
MEI was founded in 1990 by the Marler family of rural Sweet
Home. It has grown to employ 65 people and was purchased in 2004 by Dan Cappello,
a former trader on the New York Stock Exchange. Cappello is the company’s CEO.
Skip Marler, who has been with MEI since its inception, is
president and chief operating officer. In its simplest form, the company
produces wet processing systems for the microchip industry. But, in reality, it
is a fully integrated operation that offers a multitude of services to the
microchip industry, including development of clean rooms, processors, cleaning
systems, software controls and interfaces, hardware such as chemical tanks and
motion devices, refurbishing, repairs and spare parts, rigging and seismic
anchoring.
MEI can also prepare, crate and ship entire processing lines,
either domestically or internationally.
David Patton/Democrat-Herald Skip Marler, president and chief operations officer
of MEI, explains the products they make out of chemical resistant plastics.
Virtually every process can be done within the company’s 40,000
square feet of production space. The main facilities are at 3474 18th Ave. S.E.,
with an 11,000- square-foot fabrication shop on Highway 34.
Cappello, 43, said that for many years he wanted to own a small
business and see it grow. He brought to the table a bachelor’s degree in math
and economics from Hobart and William Smith Ccolleges in New York and an MBA
from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Marler said the company has grown by about 20 percent each of
the last two years. That growth has come as Oregon’s high-tech industry has
rebounded after a downturn in 2001. Also, MEI has acquired several operations
that dovetailed with its own needs. “We like to operate each of our areas as
profit centers,” Marler said. “We also look at whether it will support the rest
of our company reasonably well.”
The IDX acquisition was made in part because MEI had been a
client. Marler believes the purchase will help MEI get its foot in the door of
more companies through new sales or upgrades for companies with existing
equipment.
Although many of MEI’s clients are in the Silicon Valley of
California, others are in Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts and the
Southeast. MEI’s crating and shipping division comes into play when microchip
processing companies move domestically or overseas.
“This company has grown by word of mouth and its reputation, but
we are now becoming proactive,” Cappello said. “We have an active sales
department with four people working full time and regional manufacturing reps
who sell our products on commission.”
Marler said MEI’s capabilities are virtually unlimited. With
numerous CNC (computer numerical control) machines as well as manual and
automated milling equipment, the company can produce everything from flat panels
made of plastic that is resistant to chemicals used in microchip etching and
stripping processes to aluminum structures used to make compound hunting bows.
The outdoor sporting market — including products sold by
national companies such as Cabelas — accounts for about 10 percent of MEI’s
sales, Marler said. Its metal fabrication department builds frames for equipment
and heavy metal plating on which microchip processors can be installed. It can
also fill special orders from any number of clients. About three years ago, MEI
purchased a powder-coating company which is used for its own products and
others.
MEI’s premier product is called the Advancer. It’s a fully
self-contained microchip processor that incorporates a robotic arm, which is
also constructed in-house. Each unit takes about two months to complete and
ranges in price from $150,000 to as much as $1 million.
The company also places staff members at production facilities
such as Hewlett-Packard for ongoing system support. “We have anywhere from 12 to
20 guys at HP at any given time,” Cappello said. Such attention to service and
fine detail has earned MEI several awards, including two from Analog Devices, a
worldwide manufacturer of microchips. Alex Paul can be reached at
alex.paul@lee.net or 812-6076.
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