As you can see from our list of manufacturing partners we have the great pleasure of interacting with a wide variety of international companies. We also have a wide diversity of customers from different cultures that we support as well. We are often asked to provide more details about our partners so I thought this might be a good subject for my blog.
I try to visit all of the manufacturing facilities that support our business. It gives me the opportunity to meet the people and see the size and scope of operations behind the name. One of my first such visits was to LASOS in Jena, Germany. LASOS has an interesting history, it is the result of the merger of the former Siemens gas laser business and the former Zeiss laser business. If you have purchased any of these products you might notice the old Siemens part nomenclature, LGK-7628 for example.
Jena is located in the eastern part of central Germany 2 hours east of Frankfurt. It is part of the free state of Thuringia and boasts one of the largest Universities in Germany. Jena is very much an industrial center for optics and laser technology having both Carl Zeiss and Schott glass works founded here. Today there are a number of optical and laser companies including LASOS.
When I visited the first time I stayed a bit outside of Jena in Weimar. While most people know this name from the Weimar Republic, a name, never used at the time by the way, to describe the first German liberal democracy, the town was also home to two of the great German writers, Goethe and Schiller. After a historic tour of Goethe’s home I had a chance to taste the best bratwurst I have ever had.
My visit to LASOS was impressive starting with the many gas pump down stations for the gas lasers as well as the new clean rooms, purposely built for the expanding diode and solid state laser production. The factory is well organized, clean and open. The visit allowed me to meet many of the engineers, quality and production people that provide the support needed to deliver a quality product.
While I enjoyed my visit, I was anxious to get on my way and find a stretch of autobahn with no speed limit!