High-technology company Trumpf has announced a strategic partnership with Layertec, a manufacturer of precision optics, in an agreement that will strengthen the competence they can both bring to the display industry. The alliance will see Trumpf invest in a broad range of machinery for the manufacture of large optical components. Some of this machinery has been acquired from optics specialist Berliner Glas. These large optical components are used in the latest laser systems from Trumpf, which are designed for, in particular, the production of OLED displays. “Layertec is a highly innovative company and has been a dependable partner and supplier to Trumpf for a number of years now,” says Christian Schmitz, member of the group management board at Trumpf and responsible for the laser technology business division. “This strategic partnership will consolidate our technological leadership in the laser industry. It increases our autonomy and therefore strengthens our market position.”

Layertec is based in Mellingen, a town near Jena in Thuringia, and currently has around 330 employees. “This new machinery will enable us to expand our manufacturing operations so that we can produce even larger optics of the kind that Trumpf uses in its systems. Our cooperation with Trumpf is going to intensify, and we both expect it to generate even more synergies in the future,” says Hartmut Heyer, managing director of Layertec.

Trumpf and Layertec will successively commission the new machinery at the Mellingen-based optics specialist. Trumpf will contribute machinery, machine tools and processes to the partnership; Layertec its manufacturing expertise in the field of precision optics, thereby securing the production of large optical components for Trumpf laser systems. 

“The display industry is a strategically important market for Trumpf. This is a partnership in a highly dynamic field with big growth potential. It will therefore increase our independence from global market developments,” says Richard Bannmüller, President and CEO Trumpf Laser- und Systemtechnik.

The two companies have agreed not to disclose the volume of investment in machinery for the production of large optics.