Looking Fit 11/2003: LightTech

LightTech
Success Through Quality, Innovation And Customer Success

Since 1983, Light Sources, Inc. (LSI) has been supplying new and unique indoor tanning lamp choices for the North American marketplace and continues to provide exciting innovations in lamp performance. As the company celebrates its 20-year anniversary, its Dunakeszi, Hungary-based sister company, LightTech, rings in its 10-year anniversary this month.

Last year, LSI redesigned its marketing campaign to mirror its technological advancements in tanning lamp production. The use of one logo for both companies reflects the relationship and global approach between the two companies. With LSI’s push to streamline the North American and European-Hungarian operations, we thought it was important to travel to Hungary and see firsthand what LightTech is all about.

Where It All Began

Before examining the Hungarian operation, it’s important to look first at the birth of LSI, which was founded in March 1983 in Orange, Conn., by three engineers who left their positions at a lamp manufacturer.

In the late ’70s, the United States was hit by the indoor tanning phenomena. In 1983, Light Sources, which specialized in the production of fluorescent tanning lamps, entered a rapidly growing market that demanded more for less. “The establishment of the company depended on more choices and better value. And we survived,” says Joe Schuster, Light Sources’ vice president of tanning products. “Our ability to craft new and unique lamps led us to clearly establishing ourselves as the leading tanning-lamp manufacturer in the world today. Our ascent to this leadership role was achieved one satisfied customer at a time.”

From foundation, LSI’s corporate philosophy was guided by innovation, quality and meeting a new challenge of customer demand. For example, engineers developed new phosphor coatings that lengthened the useful life of lamps and produced a considerably more natural-looking tan. LSI was a pioneer in the tremendous diversification of the range of lamps available to the market. The company developed its own products to match the private-customer brands it distributed, and the response has been phenomenal.

As Light Sources began to make a name for itself with innovations, differentiation and exceptional quality, demand increased worldwide.

Enter LightTech

To satisfy European demand for its high-quality tanning lamps, LSI with its talented local team formed LightTech Lamp Technology, Ltd. in 1993 in Budapest, Hungary. From the very start, the management and engineering team strived to make the Hungarian operation an independent business that would make its own mark in the industry as a vertically integrated operation.

Since its formation, LightTech’s mission has been to be the leading European manufacturer of specialty fluorescent lamps and become the most technically progressive supplier in its field. Its emphasis on absolute concentration on quality, innovation and customer relations is why it is one of the fastest-growing tanning-lamp manufacturers in the world.

After just a few years, word was out on the street in Europe that something wonderful in the tanning world was happening in Hungary. The company’s unique approach to manufacturing, technology, product research and development was leading the way with new products for the future of indoor tanning.

Today, LightTech designs and manufactures specialized gas-discharge lamps for a wide variety of applications, including indoor tanning, ultraviolet sterilization and photochemical ultraviolet radiation applications. However, the manufacture of superior tanning lamps is the focus of the company.

In addition to the LightTech and Light Sources brands of lamps, the company also is a major producer of custom private-brand lamps for tanning equipment manufacturers and major tanning-lamp distributors. It is important to note that LightTech, like LSI, does not sell direct, but maintains existing dealer and OEM relationships. Interestingly, 95 percent of the lamps made at its facility are exported worldwide.

According to Karl Platzer, executive vice president of marketing and sales, the customer base has been solid and steadily growing for a number of years, but not at the expense of unnecessary sales channels. LightTech currently offers 160 different tanning-lamp specifications and 12 standard reflector angles for customers to choose from. Each lamp contains a specified mix of phosphors that are mixed exclusively by LightTech technicians on-site. In fact, the factory could double its capacity at any time if needed.

If You Build It, They Will Come

Success enabled LightTech to outgrow its small industrial building in Budapest and search for a larger location that would allow for expansion opportunities for years to come.

What started out as an eight-person operation in a 5,382-square-foot rented factory soon outgrew its first home in Budapest. Year after year, the company grew by leaps and bounds, and in 1997 a new headquarters was found in Dunakeszi—six miles from Budapest. The acquisition of 12.35 acres of industrial land included a new 30,142-square-foot factory that not only gave LightTech a permanent home, but also provided it with enough surrounding land for future expansion.

Selecting Dunakeszi as its headquarters was a strategic maneuver by LightTech, says Platzer. “This area near to Budapest is a traditional center of the vacuum-technique of lamp production. This made it easy to find experienced people already familiar with fluorescent lamp manufacturing. Basically, they hit the floor running and the company was able to manufacture quality lamps with superior workers’ knowledge.”

While LightTech’s research and development team came up with a continuous stream of product improvements, the production facilities implemented a quality-management system unparalleled in the sector. The support received from customers in the early days made it possible to translate quality feedback from the market quickly into product-improvement measures.

“Absolute concentration on quality, innovation and a customer-friendly attitude are the pillars of LightTech’s business strategy,” Platzer says. “We focus on customer satisfaction and service to be able to continue to grow with our customers and not in competition with them.”

Today, the company has more than 600 employees and has increased its factory space to more than 137,791 square feet with still more room for expansion. The LightTech compound houses an administration building, lampassembly halls, research and development building and its own glass factory.

During this time LightTech became the center of excellence in the area of R&D and manufacturing of tanning lamps.

The Backbone

The company’s strength lies in its engineering and technical expertise. In fact, its top management and its experienced team represent decades of experience in fluorescent lamp manufacturing, which enables the company to come up with a continuous stream of product improvement.

According to Platzer, customers choose LightTech because of its reputation for engineering superiority, innovation, product excellence, defined marketing policy, attentive customer service with speed and competitive prices. The company is committed to its customers’ individual wishes, and each lamp is custom-designed to fulfill the customers’ unique and demanding applications.

Last year, the company introduced Cup Cathode Technology (CCT). Lamps with this new technology feature an innovative sheath or covering that encapsulates the electrodes, enabling the lamp to operate without blackening throughout its useful life. In addition, it gives more UV output during its useful life. The company also unveiled the Combi-Lamp (dual-phosphor lamp), a new two-shaded lamp that effectively combines different UVradiation levels that can tan the face, body and legs at different exposures.

A team with international and multilingual sales skills is essential to customer service. “You must have a team of individuals who are flexible in languages for the proper service of your customers,” Platzer says. “At LightTech, we can speak German, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish and Russian.”

With the European tanning market growing and changing every year, it’s essential to understand customer demand. For instance, different countries have different lamp needs. In the United States, more than 50 percent of the lamps it makes are non-reflector; however, in Europe, more than 80 percent of the lamps have built-in reflectors. The emerging United Kingdom, Russian and Polish markets want stronger-output lamps, while Spain and Italy are beginning to order softer-output lamps.

Success in any business comes from identifying different needs and reacting to change. András Gaal is leading the commercial area with the most important key to success—the customer service department. Dr. Kalman Antal is a key component to helping the company identify emerging trends. Antal is LightTech’s head of technical marketing and is chairman of the Hungarian Sun Tanning Association and board member of the European Sun Tanning Association. He also participates with various standardization committees on lamp measurements.

The Secret Is In The Glass

In 2001, LightTech made a brilliant move and began operating its own glassworks factory on its compound. The glass factory produces glass tubes for UV lamps 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means the optimal composition of glass is guaranteed; self-production improves efficiency since it makes the company independent of the supplier network and its uncertainties.

Touring the facility was truly amazing. There, seven different basic materials and recycled glass—also known as scrap—are mixed together according to a precise recipe in a computer-controlled mixer house with automatic scales. The mix affects the UV transmittance and guarantees the optimal composition.

The mixture is melted at 1,500 Celsius in a giant furnace and then is poured down a funnel to form an endless, continuous stream of hot, molten glass tubing. The tubing travels 262 feet on a drawing machine that actually pulls the glass. At 361 feet, it is the correct temperature to be cut into lamp length sections and then taken to the production line. Here, the tubes go through the first phase of quality control. The tubes that don’t make the cut are used for scrap and recycled back into the mix. The tubes that are accepted then are stacked and sent next door to the manufacturing facility.

“The addition of the glass factory was crucial to our future,” Platzer says. “We produce a variety of glass tubes for UV lamps, which means we can adapt to new trends quickly with little or no downtime.”

Excellent customer service and quick delivery of product keeps customers happy. LightTech keeps a healthy inventory of stock and has a wonderful sampling program for its customers.

Lamps & Quality Control

Quality control is a serious subject at LightTech. A team of highly trained technicians and engineers closely monitors each step of a lamp’s evolution. From the making of the glass tubes to the filling of the lamps to designing and building specialized machinery, the LightTech team excels at everything.

Let’s look at the evolution of a tanning lamp. Actually it is very similar to the evolution of fluorescent lamps for general lighting. The basic premise is that a tanning lamp emits ultraviolet energy primarily within a precise area of the UVA and UVB spectrums. For this purpose, a tanning lamp needs a special glass envelope, a very special phosphor coating and longer lengths for matching the size of the human body. Once the glass tubes are ready to be filled, a reflector layer is painted up the inside of the tube and then dried. Next, a high-quality liquid phosphor coating is poured in and out of the tube and the tube is moved to the baking station. LightTech only uses phosphor from its own mixing lab.

Prior to running through the baking machine, a printed label or etch is heat-affixed to each lamp. This etch contains the lamp specifics and identifies the brand. Next, the mount assemblies are added and heat-sealed to the lamp. The lamp then travels to the exhaust machine where air is removed and then replaced with low-pressure noble gas and mercury. The lamps then are fitted with end caps.

Once complete, the lamp is ready for its testing stage. Each production lot of lamps are sampled and stored pending the test results. The samples get “burned-in” for 100 hours before passing quality control. The lamps then are ready for the final inspection. At this point, they will be packed and stored awaiting shipment to the customer.

LightTech became ISO 9001 certified in 1999, which means it complies with the International Organization for Standardization’s stringent criteria for work accomplished as well as meets customer requirements. The company was recertified ISO 9001 in 2002 and plans on becoming ISO 14001 and TQM certified in the future.

What’s In Store For 2004?

As the leading European manufacturer of specialty fluorescent lamps and one of the most technologically progressive suppliers in this field, LightTech plans to continue to be the indoor tanning sector’s innovator.

LightTech currently is working on new product developments to improve suntanning solutions for its customers. The company also will further its involvement with germicidal and ozone-producing lamps as well as specialty gas-discharge lamps.

Did You Know?

Light Sources is the sole supplierof cockpit lighting for the Boeing 777, the world’s most modern passenger jet, as well as NASA’s space shuttles.