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Optical systems design wins boost Jenoptik order book

24 Nov 2020

Biophotonics applications including robotic surgery and point-of-care Covid-19 tests expected to add €9 million to annual sales.

Germany-headquartered Jenoptik says that its US-based business has won a number of new orders in biophotonics applications that should eventually add more than €9 million to the firm’s annual revenues.

Development in areas including robotic surgery systems and serology tests for Covid-19 are among those providing the boost to business, with Jenoptik saying that the projects highlight the wide range of capabilities it can offer in precision optical system design.

Biophotonics boost
Jenoptik says that the first of the new biophotonics applications involves the design of the camera system for a next-generation fiber-optic medical device to be used in a robotic surgical instrument.

“The client is a worldwide supplier of medical equipment and selected Jenoptik for our expertise in micro-optics, injection molded optics, and imaging systems,” stated the firm.

Next is a project to design multiple sub-assemblies for a top-tier eye care company’s next-generation ophthalmology surgery system.

“This customer leverages Jenoptik’s proficiency in illumination systems, fiber optics, imaging systems, micro-optics, and lasers to provide key optical subsystems for their product,” Jenoptik said.

The third program sees Jenoptik team up with a major supplier of medical laboratory equipment to supply a next-generation, automated microscope suitable for in-line cellular analysis.

“The customer approached Jenoptik for our proven capabilities in microscopy, illumination systems, and our high-performance imaging systems,” it announced.

Covid-19 provided the impetus for the final highlighted project, with Jenoptik benefiting from a long-standing partnership it enjoys with a medical diagnostics company specializing in real-time point-of-care serology (i.e. antibody) tests.

“This customer came to Jenoptik because of our excellent track record in solving complex optical system engineering problems,” said the photonics firm, adding that the resulting serology test system is already FDA-approved for use in Covid-19 diagnosis.

“The incremental revenue after these engineering programs are completed and ramp into serial production is expected to exceed €9 million annually, which will accelerate the growth of our biophotonics business in North America and worldwide,” announced the firm.

‘Solidarity’ symbol
Earlier this month, the Jena-based optics and photonics company confirmed its outlook for the year, after revealing third-quarter sales of €176 million - down 13 per cent on the same period in 2019 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and an extended downturn in the automotive sector.

Thanks to an expected contribution of €25 million from the recently acquired Trioptics business, Jenoptik now anticipates annual revenues for 2020 to end up somewhere between €755 million and €775 million.

And last week the company revealed that, as a symbol of solidarity in light of the Covid-19 crisis, Jenoptik’s supervisory board members would be waiving parts of their basic remuneration for the year.

“Employee representatives and the Jenoptik Executive Board have jointly decided to donate an amount of around $60,000 to those Jenoptik employees in the US, for whom the corona[virus] pandemic is leading to particularly severe financial cutbacks,” announced the firm.

“Through the fund, US colleagues who are paid on an hourly basis [roughly equivalent to the pay-scale employees in Germany] will receive a contribution to healthcare costs in the form of a one-off payment in December.”

Jenoptik’s CEO Stefan Traeger - who earlier this year waived a salary increase that he was contractually entitled to - added: “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our employees and the entire workforce, who have made an enormous contribution this year.”

ABTechBerkeley Nucleonics CorporationJenLab GmbHTRIOPTICS GmbHFirst Light ImagingCeNing Optics Co LtdUniverse Kogaku America Inc.
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