LaCroix

Raymond LaCroix, Jr., CEO of LaCroix Optical Company with the Q22-XE MRF System from QED Technologies.

Now located in Batesville, AR, the company has over 120 employees all housed under one roof and has 30,000 square feet of manufacturing space, with additional plans for expansion in the works.

LACROIX OPTICAL COMPANY: Founded 1947, 120 employees today MANTRA: “Better technology means we can deliver higher quality optics with superior service, more efficiently” MRF IMPACT: “Immediate new business generation, eliminated bottlenecks and increased efficiency” MRF TECHNOLOGY: Q22-XE owner since 2006 GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT: Being a trusted manufacturer of high volume and prototype quantity lenses, prisms, wedges, mirrors, and achromats from 3mm-108mm accurate to 1/20th wave

LaCroix Optical Company manufacturers a wide variety of visible optics including lenses, windows, prisms, wedges, mirrors and achromats.

Producing optics for many diverse markets (including medical, scientific, industrial, and defense), LaCroix Optical Co. manufactures high volume and prototype quantities of visible optics including, lenses, windows, prisms, wedges, mirrors, and achromats in sizes that range from 3mm up to 108mm and accuracies of up to 1/20th wave. Additional capabilities in both reflective and anti-reflective coatings allow LaCroix to provide value-added services to their customers. LaCroix Optical Co. manufacturers optics using a combination of state-of-the-art and conventional equipment helping to keep the prices of their precision optical components low.

LaCroix Optical purchased its first Q22-XE MRF^® system in the Fall of 2006.  The team at LaCroix had been following the technology and developments at QED Technologies for a long time and knew it had a place at LaCroix Optical. Once the right opportunity presented itself, it was an easy decision and they moved quickly to make a place for it on the factory floor. They saw immediate benefits from their acquisition.

Upon learning that LaCroix had made the jump to MRF technology, some of their existing customers immediately awarded LaCroix new business contracts that they had previously sent elsewhere, because LaCroix did not have the capabilities to meet their specifications without MRF. This was to the mutual benefit of LaCroix and their customers. LaCroix was happy to have the additional business, and their customers were able to get their optics from a single trusted vendor.

Since its installation in 2006, MRF has become an important tool in the LaCroix Optical Co. manufacturing line. With high volume manufacturing, efficiency is critical and MRF can make short work of even the most difficult parts, thus avoiding costly delays and bottlenecks in production. MRF gives their operators confidence in getting parts through the system. The confidence factor is also important to the Sales Team and Manufacturing Engineers, giving them the confidence to go after work that they would not have been able to bid on before. LaCroix Optical Company also expects MRF technology to play a critical role as they expand their business and target new markets.

For more information about LaCroix Optical Company, please visit their website at www.lacroixoptical.com.

Download a PDF file of the LaCroix Optical Company ad from the February 2008 Issue of Photonics Spectra.