Startup Companies: How to Work With Lighting Manufacturers

Posted by on Nov 9, 2023

Lighting Manufacturers Illuminate Your Vision 

Startup companies are driven by innovative ideas and passion. While you have a vision for the product or solution you want to bring to life, you might be unclear on how lighting and lighting manufacturers play a part or your path to production. This is where the Global Lighting Technologies team can support you. See how our experience provides value to visionary original equipment manufacturers.

What Types of Startups Work With Global Lighting Technologies? 

As a light guide engineer and manufacturer, we work with select startup companies to craft custom light guide designs that bring your vision to life. We work with startup companies that have the funding and expertise necessary to take a product to market. This includes technical know-how or a contracted engineering design firm and a clear path to market once the product is developed. 

The startup companies we work with intend to design, build, manufacture, and sell a product. We do not engage in work with startups that only require product designs and don’t plan to take their product to market.  

If your intent is to mass produce a product that requires a light guide, our team can provide both engineering and manufacturing support! Read on to learn about the benefits of working with a light guide design manufacturer like Global Lighting Technologies. 

Bring Your Vision, We’ll Find the Path to the Solution 

When we work with startup companies, they often bring their big ideas and vision to the table, but not all the information needed to create a final solution. This isn’t an issue. You don’t need to know what your final solution is because we’ll help you get there.  

We leverage our proven process to uncover all the requirements of your project. Our process is especially helpful for startups because it provides a roadmap your team can follow and be part of from the start. Our process is dialed in to work on any size project. We help you determine: 

  • Costs 
  • Product specifications 
  • Brightness & uniformity needs 
  • Design for manufacturability 

Our experienced team will guide you throughout the whole process. 

Engage Lighting Manufacturers Early 

The earlier you bring lighting manufacturers into your vision, the more value they can be for you. When you engage our team early in your product development, we can make the strategic recommendations that will save you time, energy and money.  

In one case, a startup asked us to support an idea to illuminate hats; bringing our team into the early phases of product development paid off. We made recommendations on how to assemble and properly adhere the layers of the light guide within the cloth to produce the brightest and most uniform final product. We were also able to consult on various risks and obstacles that may occur throughout the product development lifecycle, providing our client with important knowledge that would save them money. 

The illumination created by light guides is the most visible component that customers see. That’s why it’s important for your engineers to collaborate with ours earlier. In addition to resolving issues upfront, you also gain more flexibility to change and update your product design. This leads to improved illumination performance because we’ve had more time to test and refine.  Savvy startup companies engage a lighting manufacturer prior to the design lock of mechanical components near and around the illumination module. 

Partner With a Firm That Plays Well With Others 

Our team is experienced in working with consultants, vendors, and other outside teams you want to bring into product development. If your idea is already in progress, we can help you understand how to get the most out of your investment. 

For example, we were approached by a company that wanted to create a mirror with illumination for the consumer market. By the time they engaged us, they had already locked all of the mechanical design and we were limited on where we could place LEDs, the cross-section of the product, and the overall size. Despite these setbacks, we made recommendations to make the most uniform end product within the limitations. 

Leverage a Team That Benefits You, Not Just Their Own Company 

When you work with an experienced light guide manufacturer like Global Lighting Technologies, both teams benefit. Your team gains our expertise and industry knowledge; our team gains even more light guide design experience! 

Our team enjoys working with startups because they pose new, fresh innovations that challenge our team. We’re passionate about continuous learning and welcome the opportunity to overcome unique hurdles. 

We never sell products from our customers’ tooling to other companies. At the end of your engagement, you own the design and tooling of the products that we’ve manufactured while we retain the rights to the proprietary optical extraction pattern and inserts used in part production. 

Startup Companies Need a Lighting Manufacturer They Can Trust 

The unique challenges of being a startup require an experienced manufacturer who can lead your team through the process. Lean on the engineers at Global Lighting Technologies who have helped dozens of startups bring their vision to life. Connect with our team here to bring us into your product development. 

We bet you have a bright idea.

Let’s see how GLT can help make it a reality.

For even more information about GLT, view our company presentation at the link below.


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