The production process at SemiNex Corp. has gone from a trial to fully functional as the company begins manufacturing its laser engines on a newly implemented assembly line at the company headquarters in Peabody, Mass. SemiNex engineers have spent the last couple of years optimizing the trial production processes to lower cost, improve performance, and increase capacity. Now with production in full swing, SemiNex will continue to monitor and improve key performance metrics such as cycle time, on-time delivery, yield, and throughput. These steps will be crucial to successfully transferring the process over to contract manufacturing — a technique that SemiNex typically uses to stay lean. SemiNex headquarters in Peabody, Mass. “The new production line uses custom fixtures to automate critical steps and requires minimal input from a technician,” said Matt Hamerstrom, mechanical engineer and project lead. “We’ve reduced assembly time tenfold from the old design, and we were able to halve the cost while maintaining optimal performance.” While there has been considerable interest in home laser treatments, few companies have been able to produce laser devices at a price and safety standard appealing to consumers. Every component of SemiNex’s new production line, from the custom fixtures to the software on the final test station, has been engineered to meet the requirements for the consumer beauty market. “It’s been invaluable to have the insider knowledge and experience SemiNex brings to the production process,” said Kayla Govoni, spokesperson for NIRA, a manufacturer of hand-held home skin-care laser devices. “We’re expecting 2019 to be the year we really start seeing lasers for aesthetic use inside people’s homes.” SemiNex Corp. designs and manufactures high-power semiconductor lasers for use in military, medical, and industrial applications. The company’s unique product designs enable lasers with high power and improved thermal performance. SemiNex diode technology dramatically lowers the cost per watt of laser power, especially compared to alternate technologies such as solid-state lasers and fiber lasers.