Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | January 13, 2025 | wbjournal.com Etched in America A Boxborough startup is considering a move to Worcester as it hopes to capitalize on the push to reshore domestic manufacturing BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor F rom the defense to the medical device industry, manufacturers are looking for ways to mark and track critical components as efficiently as possible while ensuring product security and compliance with strict manufacturing requirements. at's where Lase-X hopes to come into the picture. A small startup based out of shared lab space in Boxborough, the four- person firm is looking to revolutionize laser metal marking by creating a device integrated seamlessly into existing widely-used manufacturing equipment. "What our tool has to offer is a battery powered, wireless, and networkable laser for use in marking in CNC machines," said Carlton Brule, co- founder of Lase-X. "is has never been done before." Lasering in on uses Laser marking works by quickly using an intensely-concentrated beam of light to mark the surface of a material. Laser marking machines already exist on the market, but they are standalone devices, requiring employees to move and line up each part individually, a process that can be time consuming and lead to chain-of- custody issues, according to a white paper published by Lase-X. By instantly enabling anyone with a computer numerical control machine to conduct laser marking, Lase-X's device has the potential to eliminate the setup time and other potential pitfalls of buying a machine solely dedicated to marking. Widely known as CNC machines, these automated devices use software to control tools including drills, lathes, and 3D printers, allowing a level of precision tough to achieve with the human hand. Smaller manufacturing companies may just have one CNC machine on-site, but larger firms can have hundreds. Using a hypothetical situation of a turbine-blade manufacturer needing 35,000 parts marked with a data matrix, the company estimates its laser-marking tool would reduce costs by two-thirds compared to using a conventional stand-alone laser marking machine. Lase-X's LMT has a wide range of potential uses, from medical devices, to automotive parts, to the aerospace and defense industry. The device can be used for more basic applications like applying a logo or printed instructions to more advanced uses, including an automatic mode allowing for the secure and efficient etching of serial numbers and data matrixes, similar to QR codes. The device's on-board computing capabilities allow it to push data to and from enterprise resource planning software systems, software used by companies to collect data from multiple sources in a centralized location, creating what's referred to as a single source of truth. "So from its inception, the part can be traced," said Thelonoious Norton, Lase-X co-founder. "So raw material all the way to the end user, you can have a part that is actually networked into a system, and all along every stage that part does, it can have it could be scanned." The device's potential uses in sectors like the defense or medical industries requiring exact precision is boosted by the LMT's ability to etch high-resolution images, said Brule. "I think about the iPhone 16, the best, newest, and latest Apple product. It's about 460 pixels-per-inch," he said. "That's the screen resolution. If you go and bring the phone right to your face, you might be able to see the pixels individually, but that's kind of the best technology out there. Laser marketing can achieve double that pretty easily and go beyond that." Not limited to just metals, the powerful-yet-delecate laser etching technology has the ability to leave a mark on a wide variety of surfaces. Lase-X has tested it on plastics, glass, and organic materials. The device is battery-powered, eliminating the need for a separate power source. Panasonic origins Lase-X traces its origins back to Panasonic, the massive Japanese electronics manufacturer, where Brule and fellow co-founder Xinbing Liu were employed at the company's Boston area laser research lab. Brule, a graduate of the UMass Lowell, had begun experimenting with the idea of a battery-powered laser integrated into Thelonious Norton, Lase-X co-founder Carlton Brule, Lase-X co-founder PHOTOS | COURTESY OF LASE-X Lase-X Locations: Boxborough and Goffstown, New Hampshire Founded: 2024 Employees: 4 Product: Laser marking tool Origins: Spun off from Panasonic Boston Laboratory into independent company Core potential users: Medical device, automotive, aerospace, and defense manu- facturers Source: Lase-X Lase-X's laser marking tool is strong enough to leave permanent marks on surfaces but gentle enough to mark materials made of plastic or glass. PHOTO | COURTESY OF LASER X

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