When it comes to solder, Balver Zinn (balverzinn.com) is not a household name. But it will be, if Josef Jost has anything to say about it. The gregarious managing director of a family firm that has spanned three generations and counting, he led the company’s merger with Cobar (cobar.com) earlier this year. He spoke with Circuits Assembly’s Mike Buetow last month.

CA: What was the state of Cobar when you acquired it? What do you feel are its top assets? Where do you see Cobar adding to the Balver Zinn brand?

JJ: We saw the technical talent, which we wanted. We added our sales channel, and retained the Cobar brand. All chemistry is sold through Cobar. We are going to invest to get the brand known as a premium, quality brand.

On the personnel side, the integration is complete. I have a feel for the Cobar employees, what they can provide. They are invigorated. [Cobar CEO] Eli Westerlaken will remain a minimum of three years, becoming COO of R&D in August when the new Cobar CEO comes on. We hired a new head of R&D, Dr. D Vu, who is an expert in polymers. Cobar’s future is chemistry. Solder is one element of that. Yet, other technical products are in our future.

CA: Will you have any role in the day-to-day operations?

JJ: I will be involved hands-on with some customers, large and small. You have to, or you lose touch with the market. You get too far away from the customer base and planning becomes a waste of time and money.

CA: Metals prices have been at or near peak levels for the past two years. How does Balver Zinn cope with the market price volatility? What specific measures do you take to ensure adequate raw supplies?

JJ: When it comes to buying tin or silver, every supplier is in this situation. More than 90% of our customers have agreements to tie their prices to the London Metal Exchange prices. Our job as a supplier is to be here for five or 10 years, not just tomorrow. Our customers need a reliable pricing system. Sixty percent of the international tin market is based in China. We in the West need to form contracts with tin suppliers.

We don’t really hold positions in metals. We have contracts that secure us a certain amount at a fixed premium. The positions we take are for market actions and investments. It’s two wheels working together. We don’t speculate; it’s too risky. We buy fixed quantities for customers. Our long-term positions are always based on what our company will look like in 50 years. We’re like farmers in the U.S. We own the land. We own the machinery. The ownership of the land and the buildings has to be given to the next generation. Equity-based companies cannot look at it like that. In China, it’s a problem, because we cannot just buy the land; we would need a partner.

CA: Balver Zinn is one of a handful of SN100 licensees worldwide. What agreements, if any, do you have with patent-holder Nihon Superior to ensure Balver’s SN100 license is not watered down (through the issuing of excessive numbers of licenses)? And how do you come to terms with other licensees who are competing for the same customers?

JJ: The SN100 license is territorial, with Cobar having rights in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of India. But as it becomes widely used, we have reconsidered the policy. For bar solder, we have agreements with other licensees on common customers. For chemistry, we are the supplier.

CA: How would you characterize the importance of North America to your growth strategy? What is your three- to five-year plan for expansion?

JJ: The U.S. is a good market. We have a sales office in New Hampshire. We have to invest in human resources there. We are looking at establishing our own blending facilities in North America. This will be in six months to a year. For wire, we don’t know at the moment. We also have factories in Europe and Asia, and when customers require supply chain management, we can continue to supply them.

Balver Zinn has grown steadily over 30 years. We’ve never had a losing year. We have a good opportunity to be a big player if we follow our old strategy. Quality connects. But it starts with the people, the personal relationship.