The term VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) has ceased to be associated exclusively with the end of the Cold War. Today, it describes the world in which we live - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity occurs in everyday life, as we experience constant and increased changes. Our world’s volatility is more than just a feeling. Where building upon past experiences with a clear conscience was the norm, we are finding that uncertainty is on the rise. “Best practices” are degenerating into a misnomer and being replaced with so called “good practices.” As if this already isn’t enough, complexity is increasing, with cause and effect being intertwined in all areas. Ambiguities in communications or in the evaluation of information occurs on a regular basis.
New Paths
As the world is changing, companies must also change in order to recognize the driving demands being presented, and the wherewithal to meet them. Remaining true to one’s own values and creating necessary stability is vital, while being open to taking new paths, as they are happening at the same time. We find ourselves in a field of apprehension, where creativity and resilience are more in demand than ever before.
From Inside to Outside
We at LASER COMPONENTS have used the past year to grow closer together. We are countering increasing complexity with a strong network connection from all locations, taking advantage of our internal expertise and knowledge.
As a prerequisite for efficient collaboration and communication, the digital workplace has taken center stage. No matter where our experts are located, whether working from home, in the office, or on the other side of the globe, our flexible and resilient teams meet virtually, and exchange and store transparently, keeping one another informed about the tasks and next steps throughout the entire company.
Trust in Us
One of our goals is to provide our customers with information about the status of any project at all times. Our expertise and proficient knowledge enable us to implement solutions for unusual and complex customer requirements. Examples of the collaboration of cross-disciplinary teams includes end surface inspection of coated fibers according to optics standards, separation of wafers, coating of laser facets for distance and velocity measurement, and the rapid development of our fiber-coupled white light module ALBALUX. Our most recent projects involve increasing the quality of our COUNT single photon counters (see box): The detectors are manufactured at our site in Arizona, and our electronics along with assembly and test developed in Germany. Only through continuous coordination of sub-processes, can new requirements be implemented and tested quickly and reliably.
Innovation Pressure and Mindset
Increasing volatility within our society has led us to become more innovative. We know that we must counter this through transparency and collaboration. By changing our way of thinking, we have become acutely aware of what the “digital mindset” is. Years ago, knowledge was hoarded, but now shared transparently for everyone to access. This allows cross-disciplinary teams to generate effective solutions in a more efficient manner.
Process optimization and structural adjustments have become necessary. With the consistent implementation of 5S, over the past year, we now have increased efficiency in production at a much higher quality. We want our customers to come back, not the product. As with many things in product, there is more to it than what most people see. As precision in manufacturing is carried out, there is more time to develop new products and to further refine our processes.
We are proud of our new company building in Arizona: The production areas were set up according to 5S with professional and well-thought-out workplaces. Together with standardized routines, we have created a framework that allows for greater innovation.
Strengthening Aptitudes. We Listen to our Customers.
We have seen increase in the uncertainties in decision-making and have addressed these concerns. As we continue to strengthen our close ties with customers, we view direct and open collaboration as one of our greatest strengths. Many investment decisions have been made based upon customer stipulations and requests, providing us the abilities to continue to grow and operate. Our team is continually ready to listen and look forward to joint ventures and projects.
Looking at the New: Become Part of our Community!
We look forward to seeing you in person. We want to talk about current projects and technical details in small groups, exchange ideas and expertise in conferences and discussions, and make short presentations reporting on what is happening within our company, providing you with regular updates. We offer various virtual formats for you to choose from. Over 800 people participated in our first LC TALKS event series focusing on IR technologies, giving us the rise to a community that will meet regularly in smaller circles for “fireside” chats and networking.
We will continue to present our products in a classic manner, and flip to the back pages. It is far more exciting to talk directly with our experts: Care to take a look behind the scenes? We are currently working on virtual tours of our optics and fiber optics manufacturing facilities, and offer you the opportunity to ask questions directly to our experts.
Fully Automated Measuring Station for COUNT Modules
As of March 2021, we have extended our quality assurance in Olching by adding a new measuring station for our COUNT photon counters. Together with manufacturer Swabian Instruments, the equipment was adapted precisely to our requirements. It combines the Time Tagger Ultra, a highly-sensitive time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) system, with ultrashort-pulsed diode lasers, high-precision reference power meters, and computer-controlled motion tables. Up to twelve individual COUNT modules, with or without fiber coupling, important values such as jitter, dark count rate, after pulsing, dead time, and detection efficiency can be determined simultaneously as these values are generally determined at different wavelengths. We now offer our customer’s measurements at four wavelengths – 405 nm, 505 nm, 670 nm, and 804 nm, all of which are specified in the test report.
