Centennial History Video | Universal Photonics

Leading the Optics Industry

Client: Universal Photonics
Industry: Technology
Video Type: Explainer
Messaging Type: Interview Style

About This Video Project

In this engaging video, we delve into the rich history of Universal Photonics, a company with a legacy that dates back to 1926 when it started as Universal Shellac and Supply. Learn how Charles William Ritter's foundational work with shellac sticks evolved through generations, transitioning to a focus on optics and a broad array of technologically advanced materials. With insightful anecdotes, including the company’s growth during World War II and its expansion into international markets, we highlight the significant milestones that have shaped Universal Photonics into a leader in its field.

Discover how each generation, from Charles to Alan Charles Ritter and now to G4, has contributed unique skills that have propelled the company forward, ensuring its evolution remains in tune with current technological advancements. We also discuss their commitment to customer satisfaction and quality control, which has earned them numerous accolades, including swift ISO certification. The video showcases the collaborative nature of Universal Photonics' partnerships and their innovative solutions that cater to a variety of industries.

Join us in recognizing the 100-year legacy of Universal Photonics as they look towards a bright future filled with promise and continued innovation.

#Universal Photonics #Universal Photonics 2026 #Charles William Ritter #Alan Charles Ritter #Hicksville #ISO certification #James H. Rhodes #G4 #Far East #technology

Transcription

Well, Universal Photonics started as Universal Shellac and Supply. In 1926, my grandfather began to make something called shellac sticks. Anything made of wood, shellac would repair. So my grandfather sold them in the morning and made them in the afternoon in a loft in Brooklyn, New York. The mid-30s or so, the country got into a conflict in World War II, and so the country was making a lot of lenses. And they found out that shellac was a wonderful way to hold lenses as they were polishing a surface of a lens. And so they said, well, we have the shellac, what else do you have? And then we began to sell them the abrasives, we began to sell them the polishing pads and the cleaners, and that pulled us into the optics area. At the same time, we're broadening up our activities in optics into ophthalmic, into eyeglass work, and into other types of glass materials, as well as some other more electronics-related materials. And so our product line expanded to approach those technological applications, and it pulls in a lot of different areas. My grandfather who started the company, Charles William Ritter, died at a very young age when my dad, Alan Charles Ritter, was probably 12 or 13 years old. The company was under transitional management, and about 10 years after that, my Uncle Alan Ritter had graduated college and took over management of the company in the early 60s. So that was Generation 2. That's where we really started to increase our global footprint, we started to broaden up our product lines, we did a lot of innovative things that helped us grow. The first big step was in the late 60s, we moved to Hicksville in about a 25,000 square foot facility, which was much larger than where we were. I used to go to the building in Hicksville and skateboard in the aisles while my dad was working, and get on the loudspeaker with my sisters and drive the other workers crazy. And then when I started to get a little bit older, I would go back and summers I would work. My Uncle Alan Ritter, second generation, began to broaden up our geographical footprint. And so we found markets in Europe that were receptive to our materials, and we began to engage with them and build a presence in Europe. So that really took our company from, let's say a domestic company, to an international company. As Generation 3 joined in 1979, that brought a collaboration between G2G3 and built on the skills that G1 and G2 had provided, and a great foundation that they provided, and allowed us to continue to expand. It was always built in, so I knew before I got out of college that I was going into the family business no matter what. Because I wanted that responsibility, I saw how he brought it forward, he developed it, and always had it there for the family until when he died in 2020. In that same time frame, we began to then expand into the Far East. And the Far East started in, let's say, the late 70s, early 80s, and continued along that path to grow those markets and to grow that geographical footprint. We have three offices in China, one in Hong Kong, two in the mainland, one in Korea, and one in Japan. And the newest one is in Vietnam. So we've got a pretty good coverage of the Far East. Companies' facilities have had to grow along with what the company was doing. And we needed more space. And we moved into the centralized location about 2014, 2015, into this location. And so it was a quadrupling of size. And when I fast forward to today, we have a footprint in most parts of the world. And for a company of our size to move in that direction, to grow in an international way, was quite something. So Universal over the years has focused on building product that meets customers' requirements because the commercially available things weren't good enough. So we make thousands of products specially made for certain applications. However, there are some things that we don't make. And therefore, we need to find either the technology in the market and bring it in or have partners that we work with. So in the recent past, we've done a number of acquisitions that have been additive to our technology and have been aligned with our markets. The first major one was in the late 70s. We acquired a company called James H. Rhodes, which is an upstate facility with about 25,000 square foot of building. We were a distributor of their product for many years. They make polyurethane polishing pads. That was a really big push for polishing. That's the pads business that goes with our polishes. And then we also acquired Hastings Development Company, which was the polish side of it. So those two go together. And that was really one of the biggest thrusts that we've had to get us into that technology, into surfacing and high-tech polishing. Then there's other companies that we've acquired. Nuvite is airplane polishes and airplane cleaners. Aquabond is another one, which is a specific wax product that goes into our wax line. CV Nanotechnology, another very advanced slurry manufacturer. Another company we acquired is Marcasel, and this was a company making a surfactant additive for slurries. But I think all these acquisitions have given us skill sets and talent that we've been able to then synergize across our entire line. We're really a combination of things that we manufacture and things that we partner with others to distribute. And we give market access to the accounts that are hard for them to get to, and we integrate it with every other product that we sell to give a complete solution to our customers. In every case, these partners have been very collaborative. We're very open with them, and we have very productive relationships. And so it's almost the best of both, where we provide a certain value to those relationships, they provide a certain value, and together we're able to bring a better solution to our customers. There aren't a lot of people who do what we do, and so we end up having to come up with solutions to make things that nobody else makes. And so therefore what we do becomes very specialized. And we'll apply robotic skills, we'll apply all sorts of chemical skills to things to come up with an end-use product that is really unique. Very seldom do you have a company that produces pads and slurries and all the other things that go into the production of a surface, right? And so everything we build and put together is cohesive, and it works together. And the other differentiator is being able to recommend and come in and create a process for a customer from start to finish, where they can say, I want to make this product, and here's a clean sheet of paper, fill it out. And we can do that, give them a process that comes up with a final product that they're looking to produce, or any step of the way. Applying all those things together is synergistic. And when you pull all that together, you end up being able to provide a customer with a complete solution that they can rely on you for, and that we can take ownership of in a customer's location. And so we have G4 in the business, my son Scott, who has now joined us, helped us grow and help us transition, and help us be consistent and contiguous over a 100-year period. So I started when I was 14. I got my working papers. It was this little green or blue card, I don't remember because it was so long ago now, that my parents had assigned that allowed me to work, and work in the back. And then a few summers I was working in our quality control lab, so trying to do pretty much every job that I could do that would allow me to learn and grow in this business as much as possible. And I went on my own for about eight years before coming back here full-time, which was about four and a half years ago. The first three generations did such an amazing job, and up to the fourth generation to keep that momentum going. Each generation brings something unique, and each generation brings skill sets that are additive, and collectively makes the company better, because the company understands that just because you did it that way 10 years ago, doesn't mean that's the way you do it going forward. Things change, and the world changes, and so each generation has to mold itself to the world, and mold the company to be competitive in that world. So we're really a unique combination of 100 years worth of experience, and 100 years worth of good stewardship, with current technology and current skill sets that are important for today's world. It's going from shellac sticks to processing lenses to the technology that we see today, which is very, very far advanced compared to what we used to do. By the way, we still make shellac sticks today, and so there's still a need for it. So we kept that product for over 100 years, and it's a very fulfilling thing just to think that we were in a loft in Brooklyn, and now we have multiple locations throughout the world and much larger facilities. That's really quite something. If you think about it, how many companies make it to 100 years? 0.4%. Only 31% of companies make it to 10 years. So to make it to 100 years is really unbelievable. We've been through 19 recessions in 100 years. Wars, and economic cycles, and all sorts of things that went on globally that we've been able to absorb, prevail over, and continue. So to us, that's important. That's a legacy that we've built, and we're proud of that as a family. We collaborate with each other. We have a common goal, common strategy. We think the same way, and we pull it up in the same direction. And our values have always been focused on the customer. You have a building, you've got to have products, you have all these things, but if you don't have good customers, it doesn't matter. From the very beginning, we learned that the customer's number one, and that was, my dad definitely taught that to me. Other than that, it's definitely quality control. That's important. We stand behind every product that we sell, and we want to make sure that you're happy, and if there's a problem, we'll fix it. We first had ISO certification in our James H. Rhodes facility, and we actually became ISO certified in a record 77 days, from start to finish, in that facility. So that was quite an achievement, quite a record. ISO is obviously a standard of operating. If we say we're going to do something, that yes, we're doing what we say we're going to do. ISO is now the lowest common denominator of quality control you have to have. We have many, many applications, many customers where we go much further than that. We are the ones that drive our relationships, and we want to make sure that we as owners take care of not only our customers, but of course of our employees. They're who do the work. They're who really get us to the finish line. So we want to make sure that we take care of them and help them take care of their family. We've had hundreds of employees that have had a great career and have flourished in Universal, and we've done things for society and for humanity that are positive, and been able to carry that forward. I think those are the overreaching values that allow you to grow for 100 years. I as a G3 was given the gift of the philosophy and how we treat people and what we do that has been successful for 100 years, and to pass that to the next generation and let them carry that forward, that's a real purpose in life. It's a wonderful gift, and I'm thrilled to be able to do that with G4. We've been around for 100 years, and looking forward to the next 100 years in this industry, we've had really great relationships built, and I'm excited to keep that going. What I'm most proud of at Universal is the fact that we honor the past and the legacy that we've built. We combine that with the technology of today and the promise of tomorrow. We're not a household name, but if what we do doesn't happen, you can't make an iPhone. You can't make a semiconductor chip. Every day, I can guarantee, if you're touching your iPhone, we've touched that, right? If you're using a semiconductor or a computer, we've touched that, and so without what we do, modern society wouldn't be able to make all these things, and we've been able to do that as a closely-knit family, and we've been able to influence many in our orbit in a positive way, and so the future is really bright for Universal. It's a very special place. I mean, to say that your company is turning 100 years old is hard to believe, and for me to continue what my father really, blood, sweat, and tears put into it, is special. We honor their legacy by carrying forward and being positive and taking that 100-year history and building on it, and so it's critical that we carry that forward, and we do better tomorrow than we did yesterday, but we do it on the shoulders of those who came before us. University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

To learn more: https://universalphotonics.com/