About Us
Advanced Integrated Technologies is essentially a manufacturing service company with two major divisions. The resistance welding and reflow soldering tool division grew out of our early work building micro tools for Hughes Aircraft. About the time that Microsoft was turning computers into a household item, computer hardware manufacturers were looking for companies to build reflow tools used in the assembly of hard drives and other components. The major players like Seagate found A.I.T. and we quickly grew into the industry leader, building more reflow tools and resistance welding electrodes than any other single manufacturer. We still hold that position today.
The precision machining division machines and finishes custom products to the customer’s specification. We build in all quantities from single prototypes to production runs numbering in the thousands. We machine all materials from plastic to diamond. AIT serves all industries from Aerospace and Medical to Architectural and Energy. Our capabilities range from precision electrical discharge machining (EDM) to production CNC milling and turning. We also have capabilities in product finishing including polishing, plating, anodizing, assembly, and packaging. AIT is best known for its precision micro machining.
Industries Served
Advanced Integrated Technologies can serve all industries. Below is a partial list of industries and examples of our customers.
1. Medical – Baxter Laboratories, Medtronic
2. Aerospace – Dassault Falcon, Boeing
3. Defense - Raytheon
4. Architectural – 3-form Inc
5. Electronics – Panasonic
6. Energy – Applied Materials via Automatic Tooling Systems
In The Beginning (a brief history)
Advanced Integrated Technologies was founded by Paul Balentine. Paul began working as a janitor in the tool room of Spartan Southwest in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1962. This was his first exposure to the world of machining. He soon entered an apprenticeship to become a machinist and worked for various companies in Albuquerque NM. Between 1966 and 1974, Paul moved around to various companies gaining experience. During this time he worked for Arkansas Tool and Die building progressive and blanking dies, for Unidyamics in Saint Louis helping build the first nuclear submarine power plant, and for Timex Corporation in Little Rock Arkansas building tools for assembling watches. With Timex he gained extensive experience in micro machining and eventually became a department head over about 10 machinists.
In 1975, Paul and a friend, Joe Gatti, decided to start their own machine shop. Paul sold his Triumph 750 motorcycle to buy a milling machine, lathe, and a drill press. Paul and Joe rented a building and started their business with no customers and little knowledge of how to do business. Gross sales the first year were less than $5,000. In 1976 they split the business and Paul and his family moved to Stone County Arkansas. He built a shop immediately and started Ozark Machine and Tool.
Much of his early work came from fixing local machinery for farmers and loggers. One of his first contracts involved rebuilding starter housings for Aero Automotive. During this time an Aero Automotive engineer who was familiar with Paul and his background with Timex had moved to southern California to work for Hughes Aircraft. Hughes was developing a micro parallel gap welding tool called a duo tip. They were unable to get these micro tools successfully built anywhere in California. The engineer that was familiar with Paul suggested they give him a try. Paul successfully built the micro tools by grinding them on a lathe fitted with a tool post grinder. Later when he had secured the contract he built a specialized grinding station with a camera and overlay system to control the grinding process.
Three phase power was not available at the remote shop Paul was operating from in the early 1980’s. Growth potential was limited. About 1987 he decided to move his company to the industrial park in Mountain View, AR. He built a new metal building, changed the company name to Advanced Integrated Technologies, and began hiring employees. Growth was slow but steady in the early years. Contacts and work gradually trickled in from companies like White Rodgers division of Emerson Electric and Baxter Laboratories.
Corporate Milestones
| 1987 | Relocated to Industrial Park in Mountain View, AR. |
| 1989 | Began building the smallest heart catheter in the world at that time for Camino Labs. |
| 1989 | Hired AIT’s first engineer. |
| 1991 | Acquired AIT’s first wire EDM and began using it for production. |
| 1991 | Began building reflow soldering tools for Seagate, which was the beginning of the wave that launched computers into the current era. |
| 1992 | Bought a license of AutoCAD and began designing with CAD software. |
| 1992 | Began designing and building Custom Automation for companies like Baxter Laboratories, Merit Medical, and White Rodgers. |
| 1997 | Bought 2 Agie Evolution SF+F Wire EDM systems, the first of their kind in the United States. These have the capability of cutting with a wire that is .0012” diameter. |
| 1999 | Hired a new general manager to oversee day to day operations. |
| 2000 | Added a gold plating line. |
| 2007 | Major expansion in the precision machining division. Added an aluminum anodizing line. |
| 2008 | Eliminated custom automation from our list of services and turned greater focus to custom machining and finishing. Also in this year began working on ISO 9001 certification and met the requirements necessary to machine for Dassault Falcon Jet. |
