HENRIK SKOV ANDERSEN EPIC CEO INTERVIEW
What advice do you have for the next generation of entrepreneurs?
digitally connected and fully integrated into our customers’ instruments. We have not so far identified benefits from offering further digital services.
AC
HSA Firstly, be humble. I’ve changed industry quite a few times and each time I’ve gone into a company where the existing management team know much more about the business than I did. In these situations, it’s important to be humble and curious, and listen and talk to as many people in the company as you can. Secondly, create a company culture that’s transparent and open and where employees are actively involved in the decision making. Thirdly, be 100% customer focussed. Work openly and collaboratively with customers to find the best solutions to their needs. Creating value for your customers is the greatest mission and motivation for a company.
How do you see the future?
AC
We will continue to provide high-end transmission gratings and spectrometer modules to
HSA
OEM customers to help them innovate and grow their businesses. This is our core business, and close technical interaction and joint innovation work with our customers is key to this success. We reactively respond to market opportunities that our large customers are seeing, so we are also looking at what’s happening with integrated photonics, AI and quantum computing. It’s important to remain agile and be ready to react the moment that we see business opportunities in these fields. We are also extending our electronics portfolio to broaden our product offering to our customers.
Henrik Skov Andersen, CEO, Ibsen Photonics.
Driving Competitiveness of European Photonics Industry through an International Network
What challenges have there been with recruitment?
AC
We recruit 10 - 15 people a year, and so far, we’ve been fortunate both in finding good candidates
HSA
and in retaining employees. A major factor in our success is the open, transparent company atmosphere and involvement of employees in the decision-making process. This helps us motivate and retain talent, forming a strong and experienced team. The labour market in Denmark is very competitive, so looking forward, we expect an increasingly difficult market for external recruitment. Working closely with Denmarks Technical University to attract talent is essential for us, and ultimately, more needs to be done to attract young people to study photonics.
UPCOMING EVENTS
EU Projects, Pilot Lines & Innovation Hubs Breakfast 28 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Executive 5 Miles Run in San Francisco 29 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Members Lunch in San Francisco 28 - 29 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Members Run in San Francisco 30 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Online Technology Meeting on Fiber Sensors for Industrial Applications 10 February 2025. Online Event EPIC Members New Product Release February 11 February 2025. Online Event EPIC Online Technology Meeting on Metasurfaces 24 February 2025. Online Event EPIC TechWatch at APE 26 February 2025. Singapore
EPIC Online Technology Meeting on Photonics for Quantum Industry 13 January 2025. Online Event EPIC Market Report on Semiconductor Laser Industry by YOLE Group 14 January 2025. Online Event EPIC Online Marketing Meeting: Introduction to the World of Email Marketing II 15 January 2025 . Online Event EPIC Market Report on Premium Display Technologies by Ian Hendy 21 January 2025. Online Event EPIC SUMMIT on Optimizing and Scaling Photonics Manufacturing 27 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Executive Networking Reception in San Francisco 27 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC VIPs Networking Lunches and Reception in San Francisco 28 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA EPIC Members Networking Reception in San Francisco 28 January 2025. San Francisco, CA, USA
If you started again, what would you do differently?
AC
The only thing I’d do differently, is in respect of COVID, during which, our customers
HSA
aggressively bought quite a lot of extra products because they were uncertain about their supply chain. Business boomed and we had to recruit quite additional people. But these products were kept in inventory and used in 2023/24, which resulted in a significant downturn in sales, and we had to reduce our workforce from 90 to 75. I regret not recognizing earlier that a large part of the increase in demand was not market demand but more a supply chain issue, which we could have resolved differently.
Scan, Register, Connect www. epic-photonics.com
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INDUSTRY FOCUS 2024/2025
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