Interview with Marisa Edmund
INTERVIEW
Interview with Marisa Edmund
Chairman of the Board & CEO of Edmund Optics, a global manufacturer of optical components and solutions.
https:// doi. org / 10.1051 / photon / 202614012
Could you briefly retrace the main milestones in the long company ' s history? Edmund Optics was founded by my grandfather in 1942 under rather unusual circumstances. After recovering from tuberculosis, he joined the Franklin Arsenal in the United States, where military optical equipment was being refurbished. His job was to identify which components could be repaired, reused or recycled. Through this experience, he developed a passion for optics and began teaching himself optical science. He started refurbishing and selling surplus optical components, gradually building an inventory. But his ambition went beyond selling optics: he wanted to stimulate curiosity and encourage people to experiment and invent. He published one of the first optics catalogues to show what could be achieved with optical components. The company started very modestly, with my grandparents storing lenses throughout their house, even in the bathtub! Over the following decades, the company grew and became Edmund Scientific. In 1987, my father separated the business into Edmund Scientific, focused on education and consumer products, and Edmund Industrial Optics, dedicated to industrial applications. Another major turning point came in 2000, when we divested the consumer business and reinvested in manufacturing. The acquisition of Plummer Precision Optics gave us manufacturing capabilities in the United States and Singapore and marked the beginning of our global manufacturing strategy. Since then, we have continued to expand internationally while investing in engineering and advanced optical manufacturing.
Could you present the key figures of your company? Today, Edmund Optics employs more than 1,350 people worldwide and operates through 22 offices. We also have nine manufacturing facilities around the world and a catalogue of more than 34,000 optical components, a large proportion of which we manufacture ourselves. Our global footprint continues to expand, both organically and through acquisitions. We typically make one acquisition each year when we identify a company or capability that can strengthen our technological expertise. Most recently, we acquired son-x in Aachen, Germany, reinforcing our capabilities in ultra-precision optics, particularly for space and telecommunications applications. As a privately held company, we do not disclose our revenue, but these figures give a good indication of the scale and global reach of Edmund Optics today.
What have been the main steps in the evolution of your company? The major inflection point came around 2000. Until the late 1990s, we were primarily a supplier, purchasing optical components and distributing them through our catalogue. The acquisition of Plummer Precision Optics brought significant manufacturing capabilities into the company and marked the beginning of a fundamental transformation. From that point forward, we progressively expanded our manufacturing footprint around the world and invested significantly in engineering expertise. Bringing manufacturing and engineering together allowed us to move beyond simply supplying components to designing and producing them ourselves. Today, we manufacture a large proportion of the products in our catalogue. This evolution also opened the door to OEM and custom manufacturing. We recruited optical designers and engineers and developed the ability to support customers throughout the entire process, from optical design and prototyping to volume production, not only for individual components, but also for assemblies, subsystems, and complete solutions. It is really this combination of manufacturing capabilities and engineering expertise that transformed Edmund Optics from a supplier into the global technology company it is today.
Could you tell us about your own background and how your involvement in the company has evolved over the years? When you grow up in a family business, you become involved much earlier than your official starting date. People often ask me how long I have worked at Edmund Optics, and I usually answer: fifty years! My father was CEO and my mother was responsible for marketing, so conversations at home naturally revolved around the company. I became involved from an early age and experienced many different jobs, from serving food in the cafeteria and working in our retail store to packaging products, sorting lenses and polishing optical components. I later studied business at Georgetown University and completed a master ' s degree in business. When I joined the company professionally, I started in human resources. My father told me that managing and leading people would probably be the most challenging thing I would ever do. I then worked in different areas of the company and spent time in our offices around the world. This experience has strongly influenced the way I lead today. One of our sayings is“ No job is more noble.” Every role matters. Even today, I regularly walk through our distribution centre and may stop to pack boxes or help sort packages. For me, leadership is also about understanding people ' s work and staying connected with them.
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