Research and Development
Expertise and Skills
iCoat’s specialized technicians and expert engineers continuously maintain the production lines of state-of-the-art equipment, refine technologies, and experiment with the latest thin film and hardcoat developments from around the world.
iCoat is one of the few labs in the country that is self sufficient when it comes to the need for strong technical support and R&D. It’s a rare occasion that iCoat has to rely on outside help or outsource technical aid. While most labs are on a waiting list for technical assistance when their machines are down iCoat has a full time team of experts on site and on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Research Strategy and Testing
The R&D team conducts daily lens testing to ensure compatibility, durability, and performance of our products and processes. Our daily QUV weather testing and periodic Bayer abrasion checks as well as ongoing batch testing are a testament to our dedication to quality and we operate some of the most advanced cleaning, deposition, curing and testing equipment in the industry. We are able to determine problems before lenses ever leave our facility. Not only do we test lenses, we also test monomers, solvents and other chemicals, and ask our supplier to do the same. Once an optimized process flow has been designed for a particular product, our process engineers determine the most effective and efficient operating method to produce those products in the most timely, consistent and effective manner.
iCoat’s R&D team also designs all of iCoat’s proprietary coating processes, AR coatings, mirror coatings, and other specialty coatings and applications. iCoat tests and qualifies every new lens in the industry to ensure their compatibility with all processes. The team also puts great effort into the design and assembly of tooling and machinery to support the efficient functioning of the devised proprietary processes.
iCoat’s R&D team’s responsibilities also includes analyzing defects on any returns or rejects to see where improvements can be made. Each and every reject or failure is put through a 7 step analysis to determine exactly what caused the failure and if process refinements are necessary. Although production and R&D work hand in hand, there also exists a check and balance system that enables iCoat to make the best decision on problem solving. This check and balance system ensures that iCoat doesn’t take the easy road as a company and helps give our customers the best products available.
Commitments
Our customers have many choices, and how we perform determines whether they choose us. We aim high, set ambitious goals and deliver results, and we use customer feedback to recalibrate when necessary. We move quickly and make timely, well-reasoned decisions because our future depends on them. We encourage authority where it needs to be, in the hands of the people closest to the customer and the work.
We are a company of ideas that are cultivated by a commitment to research and development. The achievements of the past inspire us to always reach for the next innovative, powerful and marketable idea. We seek and share ideas explicitly within the iCoat family, and encourage diversity of experience and opinion.
Our employees’ ideas and inspiration constantly create unlimited opportunities. We improve continuously on our products and processes, as a company and as individuals. We practice continuous improvement to expand our knowledge and capabilities, and make our products and services better to help our customers in more efficient manner.
We are a company built on two building blocks- realism and optimism. We project these values in everything we do and pursue aggressive research and development programs to achieve the best possible results for cultivating our processes and state-of-the-art products and services.
The R&D team also provides the technical expertise to create and sustain a workplace that is free from hazards, supports safe operations and is unmatched in our shared responsibility to protect our natural environment. The team closely follows health and safety standards to ensure the safety of all the employees working under the umbrella of iCoat.
