A significant optical components manufacturer is closing its Tucson facility and moving those operations to the parent company's headquarters in Southern California.
Shutting Aurora Optical Inc.'s facility at 4400 S. Santa Rita Ave. will reduce yearly costs for Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc., known as MFLEX, by about $2 million to $3 million, a company announcement said.
Aurora is a wholly owned subsidiary of MFLEX, which is based in Anaheim. It designs and manufactures optical components, flex and photonic modules for cameras at the South Side facility. Fewer than 40 employees work there, and some will be able to relocate to other MFLEX facilities, said Lasse Glassen, an investor-relations consultant for the company.
Aurora Optical's Web site says the facility was located in the heart of the Tucson's "Optics Valley."
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The loss of Aurora could tarnish Tucson's image as a hub for optics-related companies, said Bob Breault, chairman of the optics cluster. That's especially true, he said, because Aurora's potential closure comes as another company, Spectra-Physics, has plans to lay off about 80 employees.
Spectra-Physics, which manufactures laser diodes at its South Side location, is cutting its work force in assembly, testing and packaging, and is moving those operations to a subcontractor in Asia, said General Manager Scott Dunbar. Spectra-Physics is owned by the Newport Corp..
It doesn't bode well for the Optics Valley when major companies leave or start laying off employees, Breault said.
"Every one that leaves taints the valley," he said.
As employees lose their jobs, it's important to keep those people in the Tucson area so a work force remains that is attractive to the optical industry, Breault said. The University of Arizona's College of Optical Science remains a strong asset for attracting companies, he said.
Glassen said that moving Aurora Optical from Tucson to Anaheim is a step the company plans to take during the fourth quarter of the company's fiscal year to improve the firm's efficiency and reduce costs in the long term.
Net sales in the third quarter of MFLEX's fiscal year, which ended on June 30, were $167.6 million, up from $104.1 million during the same period in the prior year, according to the company's announcement.