Polymer Optics Limited, founded in 1998 with our automotive subsidiary formed in 2014, are “engineers with light”.
Polymer Optics Limited (POL). An innovative, exceptionally talented team who love nothing more than the challenge of engineering a bespoke solution for your lighting problem.
POL uses the latest computer optical design software for advanced 3D “unconstrained” optical raytracing, photometric analysis and imaging systems design.
This range of powerful commercial software is further enhanced by our own in-house developed design programs, which give POL specialist capabilities for novel types of optical applications.
These advanced optical ray tracing and photometric mapping routines give real-world simulation results of the optical system to demonstrate the design performance, and in many cases, remove the need for prototyping before moving to production tooling.
The most cost-effective optical designs integrate mechanical features into the optical components to aid assembly and reduce the number of components in the overall assembly.
The POL design team has wide expertise in integrated opto-mechanical design methods, including Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) techniques.
In many cases, our opto-mechanical design input has to harmonise with the customer’s overall product aesthetics and the optical components become an important part of the final product styling.
Our optical design programs work directly with our CAD packages and provide a reliable communication to our customers, toolmakers and moulding facilities. Moldflow analyses are also used to determine product and process capability prior to tooling builds.
Manufacturing
Through a proven network of partner precision toolmakers, the construction of optical mould tools is carried out under POL’s tool design and close project management.
In many cases, our specialist toolmakers are skilled in optical surface generation and polishing, so can produce the entire tool set for the product to POL’s specification. However, POL’s extensive partner network of precision machining centres of excellence, enables us to have critical parts of the tool made by different processes and in different geographic locations where necessary, to bring together the best technology mix into the final tooling package.
This enables us to design, tool and manufacture novel product applications, selecting the best, most suitable technologies available.
