HISTORY OF JML OPTICAL

JML Optical Industries is founded by Joseph M. Lobozzo II, who started the company in his basement after working as an East Coast salesperson for Ilex Optical for several years. He soon moves to South Clinton Avenue in Rochester, NY. The company’s first products are lenses for photocopiers, microfiche machines, and contour projectors.

JML Optical's philosophy of partnering with offshore suppliers, rather than attempting to compete with them based on price alone, emerges as a critical success factor for the company and customers in the 1970's (This remains true today). Due to rapid growth during its first year, Lobozzo later moves the company to a section of the Optical Gaging Products facility–to the Wollensak (optical company) building at 850 Hudson Avenue.

JML buys the former Ilex building at 690 Portland Avenue on December 31, 1979

JML moves to the former Ilex building at 690 Portland Avenue when Lobozzo’s growing success enables him to purchase the building he once worked in at the start of his career. During the rapid annual increases in sales in its first 10 years of operations, JML Optical initiated highly successful partnerships with several optical manufacturers in Japan — a strategic initiative that allowed proprietary or customer optical designs to be subcontracted cost-effectively.

JML brought new coating machines and several employees up from Hauppauge, NY to increase optical coating and fabrication capabilities.

“since new owners took the helm in 2011, JML Optical has participated in a growing trend in manufacturing: bringing production back to the United States, where it’s easier to manage customers’ increasingly exact tolerances for variation.”

QuickTurn Optics is a rapid prototyping capability for custom optical assemblies and components in as little as 4 and 3 weeks, respectively; normal lead times are 10 - 12 weeks and 8 - 10 weeks. The capability employs lean manufacturing principles, highly skilled opticians, and CNC manufacturing equipment, and products have ranged from a 10-element assembly to single-element lenses and mirrors in quantities from 4 to 25 units.

JML acquires Harold Johnson Optical Labs and moves equipment and employees to Rochester from California, gaining a world-class cylindrical lens capability.

JML introduces in-house production of aspherical lenses using CNC grinding and polishing machines.

JML adds capability to perform automated MTF testing of optical systems. This capability can measure MTF at multiple field points and can generate a detailed data file for each system tested.

JML upgrades CNC grinding and polishing capability which allows us to make and sell a line of acylindrical lenses.

JML commemorates 50 years of serving as a precision engineered custom optical solution provider. We proudly offer optical and opto-mechanical design, rapid prototyping, glass and metal fabrication, thin-film coating, metrology, environmental testing, and full assembly for a one-stop solution.

Thorlabs acquires JML Optical in January 2023 and is excited to expand the Rochester-based team as well as its manufacturing capacity and capabilities. Read the press release here.