Jena, May 17th, 2021: The Jena-based company asphericon has a reason to celebrate. "Exactly 20 years ago, we founded our company with the vision of…
Jena, May 17th, 2021: The Jena-based company asphericon has a reason to celebrate. "Exactly 20 years ago, we founded our company with the vision of revolutionizing the world of optics. Since then, we have continued to grow," says Sven Kiontke, founder and CEO. At three locations in Germany, the Czech Republic and the US, the company supplies customers worldwide with aspherical components and systems. Under the hashtag '20yearsofinspiration', asphericon looks back online at 20 years of company history and provides personal insights into the company's development with many stories and pictures.
20 years – From a start-up to a global market leader
Everything started with the founding team of Sven Kiontke, Alexander Zschäbitz and Thomas Kurschel. "At that time, Thomas Kurschel and I were still working on the production of aspheres ourselves, but today we have an incredibly good team that does the job for us," says Sven Kiontke, looking back. In the meantime, asphericon employs 175 people and is regarded worldwide as the specialist for aspheric systems. "We have twenty successful years behind us. We wanted to turn aspheres into the standard in optics and have more than achieved this goal. We have grown strongly internationally and have set the fundamentals to continue this success in the future," reports CEO Alexander Zschäbitz. After founding asphericon, Inc. in 2014 in Florida, as an important sales location in the US, the company expanded its manufacturing capacities in 2019 by adding a location in the Czech Republic. Not only asphericon s.r.o. has been growing continuously since then. Due to increasing technological needs as well as rising employee numbers, the Jena headquarters will be expanded during this year. "Soon we will have the space we urgently need to be able to realize the growth strategy we have started. In addition to extra space, our investment will also include the expansion of our manufacturing capacity," continues Alexander Zschäbitz.
20 years – Creative minds for a customized portfolio
A lot has happened in 20 years. In addition to the asphere as an optical component, the company now manufactures complete optical systems. This now covers both in-stock and customized solutions. Coating, metrology, and optical design are among the standard services in addition to manufacturing. "In the beginning, some people in the Optical Valley underestimated us. For our anniversary, congratulations reach us from almost all company floors, the appreciation is very high by now. It makes us very proud to see what we have achieved together," Sven Kiontke looks back. "There are many committed minds behind asphericon. We would like to thank, not only on the occasion of our anniversary, especially our colleagues for accompanying us and asphericon with full dedication. They make sure that we can satisfy many happy customers worldwide with first-class aspheric surfaces," Kiontke addresses his employees.
#20yearsofinspiration
On the occasion of its twentieth birthday, asphericon looks back on the company's history on its website throughout the year. What worked better than expected? What obstacles had to be overcome? What is the company particularly proud of? Under the title "20 years. 20 stories." interested readers can find out more. The first stories are already online, with more articles and videos to follow. Learn more at: www.asphericon.com/en/20years-20stories
