NEWARK, DE, March 18, 2003…O&M Heater USA, Inc., opened its North American Office on Monday, March 17, 2003, at 524 Christina Mill Drive in Newark, DE. The opening marks the third international expansion of O&M, with headquarters in Nagoya, Japan, and licensed manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and Korea. Offices are also located in offices in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. O&M Heater is headed by Company President Masuda Akiyoshi, who founded the corporation more than 16 years ago.

O&M holds an international patent on its proprietary process for customizing silicone rubber flexible heaters, engineered from silicone rubber and nickel alloy elements. With O&M’s process, flexible heaters can be made in any configuration, size or shape—with or without perforations. Additionally, this process allows manufacturing of any number of heaters, from one to thousands. This service, based on O&M’s internationally patented process, is not available through any other manufacturer in North America.

Indeed, engineers in any industry can receive a quote for design and manufacture within 15 minutes by contacting O&M Heater USA, Inc., at (302) 369-0155.

“Custom design of silicone rubber flexible heaters is most advantageous where fit and temperature control are critical, for example, in industries such as general machine manufacturing, heavy industry, communications, medical, semiconductor, automotive production, and handling natural materials such as wood, rubber, and resins,” points out Mr. Masuda. With a perfect fit, temperature can be accurately controlled with minimal loss of heat efficiency. Engineers can have their ideas for a silicone rubber flexible heater design produced in the essential shape to perfectly fit triangular, cylindrical, conical or curved surfaces; around holes or protrusions; even in conditions with icing or high humidity.

O&M’s concept of customized sheet heaters is especially suited to research and development of new products, and OEM fabrication of prototypes, since O&M’s patented process allows a single silicone rubber flexible heater to be manufactured, reducing costs and waste related to new product testing.

For more information or for a quote on your heater design, contact O&M Heater USA, Inc., at
(302) 369-0155.

Silicone rubber flexible heaters were first developed to support NASA’s Apollo Space Mission during the 1960’s. Since that time, O&M Heater has refined and expanded the custom design and manufacturing of flexible heaters.

O&M holds the only international patent on the manufacturing method of flexible silicone rubber heaters. Flexible heaters are made with nickel alloy wires laminated between layers of silicone rubber. The silicone rubber used by O&M Heater is a UL recognized product of Arlon, manufactured in Bear, DE. O&M’s flexible heaters can be custom-designed for a wide range of purposes in a wide range of industries. O&M Heater products conform to ISO 9001.

O&M Heater is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, with additional offices in Tokyo and Osaka, and licensed manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and Korea. O&M provides 80 percent of the market for flexible heaters in Japan, and 100 percent in Korea and Taiwan.