Santa Clara, CA, April 17, 2002 -- Contrary to rumors that have been circulating through the industry for several weeks, Spectra-Physics is not shutting down its Oroville, CA, facility or getting out of the passive components business. However, the company is discontinuing its involvement in the thin-film filter business and has restructured the Oroville site, including laying off 30 people.
"We have tried to hang on as long as we could, but we don't see the business coming back any time soon," said Alfred Feitisch, vice president and general manager of Spectra-Physics Telecom. "We believe that the infrastructure for thin-film filters in Asia is now so strong that, when the business comes back again, it will be almost impossible to compete with the Asian manufacturers. It is becoming more of a commodity business, and Spectra-Physics is not a volume manufacturer."
The company plans to continue selling filters out of stock for the time being. In the mean time, they are refocusing their efforts in Oroville on their wave locker products, which Feitisch says have been very profitable for Spectra-Physics. In addition, the company will continue to do all of its optics fabrication and metal manufacturing in Oroville.
These efforts will continue without the guidance of George Balogh, however, former senior vice president of Spectra-Physics and founder of the Passive Telecom Group. As part of Spectra-Physics' spin-in with ThermoElectron, Balogh resigned his position with Spectra-Physics last month and has joined Tunable Photonics (Pasadena, CA) as CEO. Balogh brings 23 years of experience in the optical components and instrumentation industries to Tunable Photonics, including 13 years at Spectra-Physics, where he was responsible for developing and executing the company's optical component and thin film product strategies.
Kathy Kincade
Laser Focus World