PALO ALTO, Calif., June 15 -- Varian Inc. has begun work on a 40,000-sq-ft manufacturing plant expansion at its Vacuum Technologies facility in Turin, Italy. The facility, along with a plant in Lexington, Mass., produces vacuum pumps and other products for scientific instrumentation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.The additional manufacturing-, research and development-, sales-, and marketing-capacity of the expansion will allow Varian to contend with increased demand for its turbopumps and other vacuum products, the company said. We expect our vacuum technologies business to grow over 20 percent this year, said Allen J. Lauer, president and CEO of Varian. Expansion of the Turin facility will help us meet increased demand from the life sciences and semiconductor manufacturing industries. These customers are frequently looking for more than single products, such as pumps alone. Increasingly, Varian, Inc. is working closely with original equipment manufacturers to supply complete vacuum solutions to meet their specific requirements. Varian has 11 manufacturing locations in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Its headquarters is located in Palo Alto, Calif.