History

Mustang Vacuum was formed in 2005 by joining an experienced capital equipment manufacturing team with an exceptional group of vacuum system designers. The team’s focus was to commercialize and standardize a number of innovative vacuum deposition system solutions originally developed for unique applications, establishing a robust industrial deposition platform of products.

Mustang Dynamometer of Twinsburg Ohio has been supplying end of production line capital equipment for testing in the automotive industry for over 20 years. Don and Dean Ganzhorn launched and grew the company to become a global supplier of standard and customized dynamometer and automotive test equipment. When they received a contract for over $100M of integrated test systems Richard Greenwell joined the team to ramp up manufacturing from a shipment rate of 10 to 120 systems per week. After this successful ramp the team began considering new markets and opportunities to continue their successful work as a management team, focusing on capital equipment.

Mustang Vacuum Systems was born with the combined expertise of Mustang Dynamometer’s Management Team, headed by Richard Greenwell, and the engineering design and production arm of the new company, headed by Robert Choquette. He has been designing and building custom vacuum deposition systems and unique deposition sources for over 20 years. To fully realize the global expansion opportunities of his revolutionary designs, he sought out a partnership with a management team and organization having both the experience and financial backing to lead to a global expansion.

The team immediately launched three core vacuum deposition products, which were quickly adopted as the standard in the automotive headlamp and tail lamp industry. While continuing to develop custom deposition solutions, Mustang was selected to design and develop a complete set of roll-to-roll vacuum deposition tools which launched Mustang Solar for the development and production of thin film photovoltaics. This lead Mustang to focus its design expertise on the challenges of the roll-to-roll deposition tools used to create CIGS and other types of solar absorber layers for the thin film PV industry.

In 2011, the company expanded into a 50,000 sq. foot manufacturing facility in Sarasota, Florida which continues to be the global headquarters for engineering, design, manufacturing, service, and sales.

Over years, the business has continued to grow at an accelerated rate, with systems now installed and in production throughout the world, in a wide range of industries. Mustang Vacuum & Mustang Solar are represented globally by an exceptional group of Territory Managers and Sales Representatives providing industry leading technology and production support.