LightSources, Inc.

LightSources, Inc.
Getting To The Sol Of Tanning

by Judie Bizzozero

While the indoor tanning industry is relatively young, research—most importantly in the area of lamp manufacturing, innovation and technology—is the fuel that feeds the tanning engine.

Since its formation in 1993, 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.

As a leader in lamp production, LightTech has a special responsibility to provide the perfect quality of the tanning light sources. Since 2001, LightTech has been operating its own glassworks factory on its compound that 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. Add to that the fact that the company only uses phosphor from its own mixing lab.

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

Being a pioneer is a serious business for the LSI/LightTech team, especially in the realm of research and development. There have been very few “quantum leaps” when it comes to the manufacturing of indoor tanning lamps— until now, says Joe Schuster, LightSources’ vice president of tanning products.

“In its infancy, the industry largely relied on the lamp manufacturer to deliver what it thought was the best lamp it had to offer, often with very little choices,” adds Christian J. Sauska, LightSources’ director of the U.S. tanning products sector.

With the advent of private-brand lamp manufacturing, the industry was given the flexibility to deliver more of what salons wanted in a tanning lamp. Lamp choices included different colors, varying dimensions and wider ranges of wattages. However, the making of a tanning lamp had its limits. The transmissive properties of currently available glass prohibited the use of certain phosphor blends. These phosphors would produce UV output in an area that would be blocked by the glass. In other words, transmission that yielded output in only a certain area of UVB could be used.

That was then, and this is now. Enter Sol Glass technology from LightSources. The talented team of engineers at the LightSources/LightTech glass manufacturing plant in Budapest have designed a new type of glass that allows for transmission at a different area of the UVB spectrum. The result is a smaller amount of UVB placed at a much more efficient area of the spectrum to yield spectacular melanin stimulation.

“This allows for a greater amount of UVA to be used to produce simply what we believe is the best tan the industry has ever seen,” Schuster says. “We are proud to usher in a new era of lamp technology that will benefit the salon owner and the consumer and provide an outstanding cosmetic tan. Welcome to the future. We’re glad you could join us.”