SUSS MicroOptics SA, located in Neuchâtel and part of technology company SUSS MicroTec SE, has received the 2021 “Swiss Manufacturing Award”, in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the microtechnology industry in this region. The company develops pioneering technologies and manufacturing processes for a variety of industrial applications that are finding broad consumer use. The company currently employs 142 people, producing exclusively in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
The Institute of Technology Management at the University of St. Gallen honors companies that choose Switzerland as a manufacturing location with this prestigious award. The selection of winners is based on financial, production, and market figures as well as the company’s positioning in terms of investment in production capacity and technology in Switzerland within the past year.
“I am extremely excited about having won this award. It is an outstanding recognition of the whole team at SUSS MicroOptics which has worked very hard over many years. With the new production capacity we will bring automotive lighting to a new level”, says Reinhard Voelkel, CEO of SUSS MicroOptics.
SUSS MicroTec has made significant investments to develop new and upgraded production capacity and set up a new manufacturing site in Neuchâtel, including cleanroom space which quadruples overall production capacity. In addition, the existing high-volume manufacturing of innovative optics for automotive lighting will be significantly increased with the ramp-up of a new product line by the end of this year.
“I am very happy that our team in Switzerland has been recognized for their performance with this award, and our best wishes go to our colleagues here”, says Dr. Goetz M. Bendele, CEO of SUSS MicroTec. “As a key growth driver for our company, SUSS MicroOptics represents the future of how we let technology deliver solutions to our customers which in turn deliver significant value to them. I look forward to when lighting solutions using SUSS micro-lens arrays are used and appreciated by consumers worldwide”.
SUSS MicroOptics has in-depth expertise when it comes to high-quality refractive and diffractive micro-optics and is a key supplier for innovative photonic solutions in telecom, datacom, life science, laser, semiconductor equipment and automotive lighting applications. The company mass-produces microstructure components and highly specialized optics such as micro-lens arrays in its cleanroom facilities. With its end-to-end know-how along the value chain, from basic optical design to in-depth manufacturing process insights, as well as the use of technology, the company enables its customers to achieve rapid time-to-market from pre-development to stable, high-yield high-volume series production.