Ross Optical Blog: The Latest News & Research

Meeting Needs, By the Numbers

We just completed our 2017 customer survey, and Ross Optical once again received high marks for customer service, technical expertise, quality and delivery. On overall performance, 92% of customers rated Ross above average or excellent.

Optical assembly is an important step in the production of an optical system—as well as a major cost driver. As we’ve previously discussed, designing optics with assembly in mind can ease the transition from prototype to final product and save money in the long run. But beyond design, the “who” and “where” of assembly can also affect price.

Generally speaking, a "large" optic is anything with dimensions exceeding 10 cm. Designing a large optical system is not intrinsically harder than designing a smaller system, but the stakes are higher. The classic example of a large optics project gone wrong is the Hubble Space Telescope, in which an error in metrology resulted in a mirror that was made "exactly wrong" to very high precision.

Keep in mind that, when designing a system that includes large optical elements, the effects of the usual cost factors increase and some new factors appear. The following design points will help.

I attend the SPIE Optics + Photonics conference every year, mostly just to walk the show. Compared to other shows, O+P is a pretty laid back event, perhaps because it is at the end of summer or perhaps because it is in Southern California. Because it is a slower conference, you really need to plan ahead if you want to get the most out of it.

Stock image, Claudio Ventrella

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a bright full moon or a star-filled sky, only to be disappointed when virtually nothing shows up on your phone screen? The distance and brightness of these objects make it nearly impossible to get a sharp image—and that’s just in our own galaxy.

There's nothing wrong with sourcing optical parts from overseas. We frequently do it ourselves. However, working with vendors on another continent has its risks, and when things go wrong, they tend to go really wrong. Problems include:

Over the last several years, Ross Optical has worked closely with the engineering and purchasing team at Microtrac to provide custom optics that support their particle analysis instruments.

SPIE Optics + Photonics (O+P) is coming up in San Diego, California, the week of August 6. The optics industry changes quickly, and O+P is a prime place to catch up on the latest developments across the field, with an even mix of technological innovations and applications.

Opto-mechanics refers to the mechanical design of optical systems. Opto-mechanical design is sometimes dismissed as little more than "wrapping metal" around the optics, but that perspective is detrimental to building the best operating optical instrument.

Kanban, a method used to visualize and optimize workflows, has long been a key part of Ross' processes. Kanban has 5 core properties: (1) visualize workflow, (2) limit work-in-progress, (3) manage flow, (4) make process policies explicit, and (5) improve collaboratively. At Ross, we help you with 3–5 so that you can focus on 1 and 2. When managing and delivering optics inventory to customers, we aim to: