35 year anniversary for Guided Wave

Guided Wave Inc.,a leading manufacturer of online process analytical systems are celebrating their 35thanniversary of continuous business operation. Established in 1983, Guided Wave was an industry pioneer when it delivered the first fibre optic-based Near Infrared (NIR) analysers. Today Guided Wave has successful NIR analyser installations on six continents and in more than 50 countries, with thousands of analytical instruments sold worldwide. Guided Wave is the only process NIR manufacturer that provides a complete optically matched system, yielding the best throughput efficiency and long-term performance, exceeding industry standards. These workhorse analysers have been industry-proven for over three decades with individual analysers in the field typically running 24/7 to last more than 10 years with >99% uptime.

Behind Guided Wave’s long term stability is its leadership in remote sensing spectroscopy and advanced fibre optic systems. These systems offer the unique capability of gathering chemical, spectral, and process information in situ, in the most demanding environmental locations. Holding 17 product patents, Guided Wave’s expertise and experience span a wide range of applications in industries such as, hydrocarbon processing, petroleum/refining, petrochemicals, polymers/resins, specialty chemicals, sterilization, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor and consumer products.

Susan Foulk, President of Guided Wave, and a 30 year veteran of the company who began as an Application Chemist in 1987 stated, “It is remarkable that a company of fewer than 30 people has withstood the test of time. It’s a testament to the technology and quality of our products and our dedicated team of employees.” She continued, “We wish to thank all of our customers for their loyalty and continued patronage. Customers like Dow, DuPont and BASF have been with us since the beginning and their belief in Guided Wave and our products are why we are able to celebrate this 35thmilestone.” “Our product reliability, stable instrument platforms and responsive technical support are why companies from around the world have depended on Guided Wave and continue to do so,” added Dr. Terry Todd, Ph.D.
Dr. Todd, Corporate Fellow for Guided Wave, has more than 40 years’ of experience in infrared molecular spectroscopy, radiation physics, optical and spectroscopic instrument design for industrial applications. At Guided Wave for the last 25 years, he is responsible for developing new NIR and UV-Vis analyser technology and applications.

Guided Wave employs a technical staff of engineers, chemometricians, chemists and physicists with extensive experience in process analysis,feasibility assessment and system development for customers worldwide. Dr. Todd, like many of the employees are experienced and acknowledged experts. The average employee has worked at Guided Wave for over 10 years, several for more than 20. According to Debra Hall, VP of Sales and Marketing, “An important quality that sets Guided Wave apart in the industry is that the group is extremely accessible and responsive. We offer innovative designs, insightful solutions to customer problems, expert technical support and genuinely knowledgeable service to the customer globally”.

Guided Wave’s Director of Sales and Service, James Low, who has been with Guided Wave over 28 years adds, “Our customers have been able to rely on Guided Wave’s analytical systems for many years and this will not change as we continue to develop new systems. The design, engineering, and quality of our products have delivered high value well beyond their targeted lifetimes. This is partially due to the continuing support Guided Wave provides for all of its systems even when they are no longer manufactured. With thousands of products in use, in a wide variety of demanding process installations worldwide, Guided Wave’s products have truly withstood the test of time.”

Guided Wave was founded by David LeFebre, who pioneered fiber optic communications technology at Texas Instruments and Sperry in the 1960’s and 70’s. The company began business near Sacramento, California, manufacturing a fibre optic based spectrophotometer for general use and testing the quality of fiber optic cables. The company opened its first international office in 2001, Guided Wave Europe, and shortly thereafter opened Guided Wave India in 2004. To meet expansion and growth opportunities, Guided Wave moved in 2005 to its current location, in Rancho Cordova, California which is about 15 miles from the state capital. Since that time Guided Wave has expanded to over 20 distributors and office locations worldwide. The company implemented and maintains a Quality Management System and is ISO9001: 2008 certified.

In 2007 Guided Wave was acquired and became a subsidiary of Advanced Holdings Ltd (Advanced) which is listed on the Singapore Exchange Mainboard. Advanced is an ISO9001: 2008 certified company which designs, licenses and supplies proprietary process equipment and process technologies for chemical and petrochemical, oil and gas, power generation and micro-electronics industries. Advanced’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Kar Wong praised Guided Wave, “the board and I congratulate the dedicated staff at Guided Wave on the achievement of their 35thanniversary. We have a very strong and experienced team who will successfully propel Guided Wave into the next decade of innovation and industry leadership for many years to come.”