Through it all – the precedent-setting pivoting caused by COVID, labor shortages impacting supply chains, inflation being combatted with higher federal interest rates, the global economic effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine; and myriad other hurdles even beyond the past decade – LEDtronics has kept the lights on for 40 years.
Persevering several decades of challenges has enabled LEDtronics to not only be a lighting industry leader, but one of the last-surviving U.S.-based LED lighting manufacturers.
“It’s a rare OEM that can stave off a buy-out, merger or bankruptcy with what we and other industries have had to deal with over the past 40 years,” said LEDtronics President Pervaiz Lodhie told California Business Journal. “We’ve had to become lean and mean to survive some of the greatest economic shocks, but being prudent and efficient has allowed us to ward off those nasty outcomes and stand tall.”
The year was 1983. Ronald Reagan occupied the White House, “Gandhi” was “Best Picture,” a box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cost $1.19, and working out of a garage in Torrance, Calif., a Pakistani immigrant couple realized their American Dream by founding a company they hoped would become “the General Electric of LED lighting.”
Pervaiz and his wife Almas were married only three years when they launched what has become an industry-transforming manufacturer with a wonderful success story. Today, as LEDtronics celebrates a milestone anniversary against all odds, the company’s headquarters is no longer housed in a humble suburban garage, but within a state-of-the-art 66,000-square-foot plant in the tech-rich South Bay of Southern California. A second facility is based in Pakistan.
As a world-leading supplier built on light-emitting diode technology, aka LEDs, aptly named LEDtronics has a much larger footprint than the birthplaces of the company and its founders. A global network of sales representatives is deployed to seek and service customers ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations.
One of them happens to be GE, which at LEDtronics’ founding still went by the name of General Electric. The fact that GE has purchased bulbs from LEDtronics for 30 years is a source of pride for Pervaiz, who, as noted, had aspired for his company to be the LED version of the multinational conglomerate nearly 100 years its senior.
“When GE got out of the incandescent bulb-making business, we were thrilled to get the nod from a compny I always admired,” Pervaiz said. “It’s so rewarding when companies large and small recognize that LEDtronics is on the front lines of a revolution that sees the private and public sectors phasing out traditional incandescent bulbs in exchange for energy-saving, eco-friendly, environmentally safe LEDs.”
Years before GE turned to LEDtronics, the company had already been supplying Southern California’s burgeoning aerospace industry with cutting-edge lighting solutions. Among LEDtronics’ first customers were Northrop, North American Rockwell and Hughes Aircraft, the latter of which actually performed quality control inspection out of the Lodhie’s garage – a first and possibly last for the once-thriving American aerospace and defense contractor. According to Pervaiz, what piqued the companies’ interest with the Torrance start-up was a blurb in a now-defunct trade publication.
“LEDtronics’ first set of customers came from a very fortunate meeting with the editor of Electronics Products,” he recalled. “He bit on my pitch and we met at a Denny’s for coffee. At his suggestion, I sent him a photo of our first product along with a small write-up explaining its attributes and benefits. When the article appeared in the magazine’s new-products section, I started receiving calls and leads. That was the jump-start for LEDtronics.”
Defense, railroads, power plants, hospitality, health care – it’s no exaggeration to state that LEDtronics has shined a light on every virtually every sector of every industry and to the delight of countless customers.
Pittsburgh-based Hutchinson Computer and Electronics Repair, which procures parts for the U.S. nuclear naval program, has purchased light and housing indicators, colored LED maps and light-emitting diodes from LEDtronics since 2017.
“LEDtronics always provides us with fair pricing, and the company’s best attributes are their sales people – always friendly and extremely helpful,” said company owner Mark Hutchinson. “Congratulations on their 40th anniversary!”
For seven years, LEDtronics has provided LED lamps for equipment controller boards of Digilube Systems, which supplies lubricants and related equipment for a variety of applications in the manufacturing setting.
“LEDtronics provides some of the best LED products – bright and crystal clear – ideal to use on our equipment that is usually installed on conveyor lines up in the air in manufacturing facilities,” said Digilube buyer Sherri Sutter. “The best attribute of LEDtronics is the quality of their products.”
Some of the more public uses of LEDtronics’ lighting solutions can literally be seen at Buckingham Palace, Los Angeles City Hall, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the worldwide tour of “Wicked” and countless other landmarks and productions.
Pervaiz Lodhie launched LEDtronics 40 years ago from his garage in Torrance, Calif. As holder of over 50 lighting-related patents, Pervaiz has brightened up much of the world. And brightening his own world for 43 of his 79 years has been Almas. Celebrating their corporate ruby anniversary only three years after their ruby wedding anniversary conjures cherished memories for Almas.
“For the founding and first few years of the company, I was co-running LEDtronics with my husband as I held our first child in one arm,” Almas said. “Once the company’s foundation was established and business was flowing, I gradually focused on raising our children while my husband and his team took over the day-to-day work.”
Almas echoes her life – and work life – partner in saying that the past 40 years have been “a great journey.” Doing so in their adopted Land of Opportunity has made the adventure even sweeter.
The LEDtronics Team “As American citizens, one of our top priorities is to create American jobs and make American products,” she said. “Although we’ve been through many ups and downs, we are so proud to continue to be a company that offers LED products manufactured right here in our country.”
While the majority of LED products used in the U.S. are now made in Asia, many of today’s most ubiquitous LED products were invented by Pervaiz and first manufactured at the same Torrance plant where production is still very much alive. In addition to LED strip lights, which younger generations know better as the wildly popular TikTok lights, LEDtronics originated the beacon bulb, a precursor to the modern-day post top LED lamp that beautifully illuminates walkways in many cities worldwide. LEDtronics is also home of the LED tube light, which in under 20 years has evolved from a low-voltage drop-in replacement of ballasted fluorescent tube lights to today’s high-voltage variety.
Looking back at 40 years of innovation spawned by and at LEDtronics, Pervaiz listed as a key ingredient of his company’s success a combination of product design expertise, superior product application knowledge and always exceeding customer expectations across all sectors of the business. Almas added a dedicated workforce, of which product assembler Clara Garcia is the longest-serving employee with 37 years.
Also on LEDtronics’ payroll is Pervaiz and Almas’ son, Shaan, who wears the hats of chief operating officer and marketing manager. He joined the company shortly after graduating from USC, and even after 14 years there, Shaan is still in awe of Mom and Dad’s accomplishments.
“As immigrants who came to America and started a company in their garage that grew to revolutionize the LED industry, my parents truly are living the American Dream,” Shaan said, adding that he hopes to be part of LEDtronics’ future.
“Looking back at how much technology has advanced in the world over the past 40 years, I can’t even fathom what things will look like in the next 40,” he said. “LED technology is already advanced into amazing tasks other than lighting, including grow lights for plants and even in the medical field for assistance in healing.”
Looking into his LED-illuminated crystal ball, Shaan foresees a world without incandescent, halogen, fluorescent and HID lighting. The likelihood of that vision becoming a reality is aided by a ban on most incandescent bulbs by the end of 2024. Originally based on a 16-year-old bill that Pervaiz helped inspire, a Biden administration policy that was passed in April 2022 establishes a new minimum energy-efficiency standard of 45 lumens per watt, meaning bulbs under that efficiency level will not be permitted on the market.
“The whole world,” Pervaiz concludes, “will be switched over to LED, and I’m hoping solar power will have advanced enough to provide light to all people globally in a completely sustainable manner without the need for an electric grid in the more rural and remote regions.”
Copyright © 2023 California Business Journal. All Rights Reserved.
Related Posts
