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Global Laser, one of the four Welsh SMEs that benefited from EDC’s one-off Ecodesign Support Package (ESP) has launched their new low power consumption laser at the SPIE Photonic West 2009.
SPIE Photonics West is one of the largest commercial exhibitions in North America on optics, lasers, biomedical optics, optoelectronic components, and imaging technologies. The event provided Global Laser with an unique opportunity to showcase their new ‘green flagship’ product to key players from the optics and photonics community from around the world.
The company’s new laser brings two main benefits: it consumes less energy and it is ideal for battery-powered requirements, with a longer lifetime and less batteries being used. The laser has reduced the carbon footprint by up to 51% as identified by PIRA Consultants.This is because it uses 50% less energy than other products in their range.
Over the last year there has been an increase in general environmental awareness in the Photonics sector, especially in Europe, and Global Laser is one of the pioneers. To-date competitors have not embraced ecodesign and this has presented a big opportunity for the company to strategically market the lower cost advantage of the new low power laser. On the other hand, there are big challenges ahead of the company in terms of educating the sector on what implementing ecodesign actually means. Some companies wrongly believe quality may be compromised through ecodesign. This is a key influencer for Global Laser when working on its communications and marketing strategy.
The ecodesign approach at Global Laser is still in an early stage. The involvement of the company directors and managers in the project has been vital to get to this point. The company is now taking ecodesign principles into consideration when designing new products and re-developing existing ones.
In the near future the aim is to extend the new approach to all their continuous wave (CW) product range. The ongoing commitment of all the company staff will make this next stage possible.
Click on the link to read the EuroPhotonics Magazine article ‘ECO Photonics: How Green Is Your Laser?’ written by Kimberley Clark.
To learn more about Global Laser please visit www.global-lasertech.co.uk
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