Custom headlamp concept render over ideation sketches
Custom New Product Development

You bring the vehicle. We take it from concept to production.

Custom forward lighting is what we do best. Optics, electronics, certification, tooling, and manufacturing are all handled by one team under one roof, accountable from first drawing to first shipment.

FMVSS · ECE · SAE · CCC · AIS · VSCC certified in-house | Germantown, Wisconsin, USA
Program Management

One program manager. One team. Concept to start of production.

A custom lighting program takes optical design, electronics, regulatory approval in every market you sell into, tooling, and a production line. Most suppliers split that work across several companies and leave the coordination to you. We do all of it in-house, and one program manager owns your timeline from first requirement to first shipment.

Designed to your spec.

Optics, thermals, housings, and connectors engineered around your vehicle, not adapted to it.

Certified for your market.

We run the regulatory testing and file the approvals in-house, in every market you sell into.

Lower tooling cost. Shorter lead time.

In-house tooling and industrial 3D printing cut cost and time from prototype to production.

Phase One

Concept

Every program starts with your requirements: the vehicle, the duty cycle, the volumes, and every market you plan to sell into. We work out feasibility, photometric targets, and program risk before anything is drawn. Your program manager is assigned on day one.

You get a straight answer, in writing, on what is possible, what it will cost, and how long it will take, while changes are still cheap to make.

Inside this phase
Application & duty-cycle analysisBenchmark studyPhotometric targetsRegulatory market mappingPackage & mounting constraintsBudget & timelineProgram risk reviewProgram manager assigned
Transit vehicle lighting program
Phase Two

Design

Mechanical, optical, electrical, software, and styling engineering work in parallel, not in sequence. Simulation shows how the lamp will perform thermally, structurally, and optically before any tooling is cut. Industrial 3D printing puts a physical part in your hands in days.

You review parts and beam patterns, not renderings.

Inside this phase
MechanicalOpticalElectricalSoftwareStyling & renderingThermalCondensationMold flowStructuralVibrationPhotometryDesign for manufacturingIndustrial 3D printingRapid concept trials
Optical engineering
Virtual Reality Review

Walk around the lamp before a single tool is cut.

Our virtual reality facility puts your lamp on your vehicle at full scale. Your team evaluates styling, sight lines, and beam pattern in the room, early enough that changes cost nothing.

Phase Three

Validation

We write a DVP&R test plan for your program and run it in our own photometric and EMC labs. It ends in the approvals your markets require and the PPAP documentation your quality team expects.

We know the shortest path to approval in every market you sell into. Compliance is our job, not your risk.

Inside this phase
DVP&R test planPhotometric labElectromagnetic compatibilityEnvironmental & corrosionIP67 / IP69K sealingVibration & thermal shockPPAP submission
DOTFMVSS 108 · United States
ECEVCA homologation · Europe
SAESAE / ISO engineering standards
CCCCompulsory certification · China
AISAutomotive standards · India
VSCCVehicle safety · Taiwan
ADRDesign rules · Australia
ETLETL / UL listing
Phase Four

Production

Custom tooling, lean automated assembly, in-house SMT and PCBA, injection molding from 60 to 1650 tons, and vacuum metalizing, all on one integrated campus. Producing our own circuit boards means we adapt to your changes instead of queuing behind someone else's supply chain.

Launch support and a continuous quality improvement program carry the work past start of production, not up to it.

Inside this phase
Custom toolingInjection molding 60T–1650T1, 2, 3-shotVacuum metalizingIn-house PCBA / SMTAutomated assemblyWiring harness assemblyHigh mix / low volumeISO 14001IATF 16949CQI programLaunch support
J.W. Speaker manufacturing

Three plants. 403,000 sq ft. One integrated campus in Wisconsin.

Why It Costs What It Costs

Ninety years, three plants, every discipline in-house.

Most lighting suppliers farm out the difficult work: the simulation, the tooling, the electronics, the homologation. We do not. That is the whole reason a J.W. Speaker program lands on time, passes the first time, and holds up in the field for the life of the vehicle.

J.W. Speaker 90 years
Founded 1935. Family owned. Made in Germantown, Wisconsin. Ninety years of putting light exactly where it is needed.
ISO 9001 ISO 14001 ISO 26262 IATF 16949
FMVSS 108 · ECE · CCC · AIS · VSCC · SAE · IP67 / IP69K
Proof

Proof, not promises.

Custom motorcycle lighting
Arch is partnering with J.W. Speaker because they were the absolute best choice for a partner for lighting.
Gard Hollinger · Co-Founder, Arch Motorcycle
SmartHeat®

Lenses that de-ice themselves.

Self-regulating heated lenses engineered for plows, transit, and rail in real winters.

Dual Burn® Optics

High and low beam, one optic.

More light on the road from less real estate on the vehicle.

Additive Manufacturing

Production without the tooling.

Production-grade printed components that erase tooling cost for low and mid volume programs.

Start Your Program

Start an engineering conversation.

Every custom program starts the same way: a short conversation about the vehicle and what the light has to do. Send the basics and an engineer, not a sales queue, reviews it within two business days.

Demo form. Submissions are not stored.

Received.

An engineer will review your application and reply within two business days.

Prefer to talk it through?

Call our engineering team directly.

(262) 251-6660

Germantown, Wisconsin
Monday to Friday, 8 to 5 Central


Already a customer?

Reach product support and warranty through your J.W. Speaker dealer or the main line above.

Start an Engineering Conversation