RSL Fiber Systems LLC is shedding new light on an old problem. The East Hartford-headquartered light maker, founded in 2001, designs and manufactures advanced illumination systems that seek to overcome the limitations of traditional lighting.
“RSL uses an innovative technology to solve traditional problems in more effective ways,” says Tony Allen, vice chairman, Connecticut Technology Council board, which named RSL the fastest growing company in the advanced manufacturing category of its Marcum Tech Top 40 awards program.
Unlike traditional technologies that deliver electricity via potentially inflammable copper wires to incandescent or florescent light bulbs, RSL’s proprietary remote source lighting system generates light from a metal halide lamp in one location and transmits that light via fiber optics to a remote light fixture — fixed or portable — situated at 1,000 feet or more.
The cable and light fixtures are non-electric, which makes it a safer option for niche end users like aircraft carriers transporting jets loaded with fuel.
In addition to eliminating electrocution and danger from explosions, the technology does not interfere with electronic equipment or radio and has no light pollution — which makes it well suited for stealth operations. Unlike an electric bulb, the light fixture does not require replacement, thereby reducing maintenance and increasing safety. The company cites studies that estimate cost savings of between seven to 15 percent over the lifecycle of the system, which could last upward of 25,000 hours.
It all started when RSL’s founder, CEO and CTO Giovanni Tomasi, 51, was working with a customer at his former job with cable manufacturer Draka USA in Massachusetts. The chief engineer of Engel Shipbuilding (now Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, an RSL customer) asked Tomasi if the firm could use cables to illuminate the masts of Navy ships, rather than do it the traditional way by sending up a sailor.
That’s when a bulb lit up in Tomasi’s head. Soon after, he and his team designed a system that used plastic fibers, which was installed on the USS Porter.
As with any new application, there were problems. “It was not of military quality. But the technology performed well enough that the Navy realized its potential and Engel realized that it would help lower their overall shipbuilding costs,” Tomasi says.
In 2001, Tomasi left Draka to start RSL, a self-funded venture that rapidly posted organic growth. The company received a portion — less than $250,000 — of the approximately $4 million investment from the Office of Naval Research, which funded RSL and its partners.
In 2008, RSL received a $9.8 million contract from Northrop Grumman, which led the company to become ISO 9001 compliant under the guidance of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology.
“RSL is perhaps the only company with the flexibility and manufacturing capability to get what we need done,” says William Johnson, electrical engineer, Northrop Grumman. “We’re looking at using their technology on other shipping platforms.”
Today, the company garners 100 percent of its revenue from U.S. Navy shipbuilders Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics. Richard Barnes, head of RSL’s finance and operations, says in five years, about 50 percent of the revenue will accrue from commercial, non-military markets. “It’s been quite a ride, growing at 651 percent. But we’ll have to pull back to a healthy double-digit revenue growth starting this year,” Barnes says. The company has an order on hand for 50 lighting units from the U.S. Navy.
Going forward, RSL is gearing up to enter commercial markets such as mining, offshore drilling and petrochemicals. “We’re continuing to grow in our DoD business but are also looking to aggressively grow in non-military segments,” says Peter P. Gladis, RSL’s director of marketing.
The challenges? Prohibitive costs and traditional mindsets. On a landing platform dock, such as the USS New York, the standard RSL system is priced at $250,000. On a missile destroyer, it could be 10 times more.
“It’s a technology that’s designed for military applications. It’s like trying to convince someone that a Hummer is the safest vehicle to commute to work. Most people don’t need a Hummer. So it’s being over-designed for commercial applications,” Tomasi explains. “One of our major R&D thrusts is to lower product cost by using more efficient light sources like laser. We could easily lower costs by ten-fold.”
Unlike traditional light manufacturers General Electric, Osram Sylvania and Philips Lighting, which target large industrial and consumer markets, RSL hopes to capture a share of smaller, niche markets with high growth potential.
But change is a tough concept to sell.
“The biggest barrier in penetrating these new markets is the nature of people knowing about old, traditional lighting systems. It’s a different concept to think of light being delivered through optical fiber and not by electrical wires,” says Gladis.
RSL has managed to obtain a vote of confidence from key players.
“Their technology is a game-changer,” says Dennis Jarvis, II, director of the Mine Safety Technology Consortium in West Virginia.
David Ditto of the Penn State Electro-Optics Center, which advises RSL and the U.S. Navy on technology aspects, says RSL’s system increases reliability. “It’s an excellent technology for the right applications,” he says.
The company is poised to expand its footprint in Europe. Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has placed an order — valued at $3-$5 million — for installing RSL lighting systems in 10 frigates. And RSL is collaborating with a German LED light maker to manufacture their products under license for the U.S. market and have them manufacture RSL’s product in Germany for the European market.
“That’s the kind of operational synergy we’re looking for,” says Tomasi.
