Since 2001, our family of companies has built custom optics for customers who couldn't find what they needed in a catalog — from one-off research elements to production programs running thousands of parts. Across more than 5,000 part numbers, the successful programs all follow the same arc. Here is what a serious custom program looks like from the buyer's side.
The five stages
| Stage | What Happens | What You Provide |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Intake | NDA if needed; ITAR-controlled handling for defense data | Drawing, sketch, or even the failed part |
| 2 · DFM Review | Line-by-line spec review; cost drivers flagged before quoting | Application context: band, power, environment |
| 3 · Prototype | First articles in as fast as 2 weeks, with measured data | Feedback from your integration testing |
| 4 · First Article | Full dimensional + spectral report against the frozen print | Approval — or the change list |
| 5 · Production | Full-tooling batches, serialized traceability, coating certs per lot | A forecast, so material is staged ahead |
What speeds a quote — and what stalls one
Fast quotes come from complete context: the wavelength band, the tolerances that actually matter, the quantity curve, and the operating environment. Stalled quotes come from over-specified drawings (λ/10 everywhere "to be safe"), missing coating definitions, and requirements copied from a different material's datasheet. Our DFM review exists precisely to catch these — it routinely removes 20–30% of cost before the first blank is cut.
Custom doesn't mean small
The same pipeline serves a university lab buying five prisms and a defense integrator qualifying a seeker window for LRIP. What changes is documentation depth — commercial certs at one end, full serialized traceability with country-of-origin documentation at the other. Say which world you live in on day one, and the paperwork arrives already in the right shape.
Adapted and expanded from an article originally published on the American Photonics blog.