The flagship plant, LAI East, doubled the size of its Westminster, Md., manufacturing facility to 40,000 square feet in 1998. LAI Midwest, a Lockheed Martin Corporate STAR Supplier, opened in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1992. LAI Southwest, a full-service waterjet job shop opened in 1996 in Phoenix, Ariz. Southwestern Laser, an advanced laser machining facility in Tucson, Ariz., joined LAI in 2005. Rich Technology International, Scarborough, Maine, was acquired in 2007. Rich specializes in high-speed CNC machining, five-axis CO₂ laser processing, and electrical discharge machining, including wire, plunge and hole-drilling EDM processing. The company also offers five-axis grinding, welding, conventional machining and certified gage calibration.

LAI was founded Jan. 5, 1979 by Robert Ulrich with three employees and a manufacturing contract for laser heat-treating large industrial rolls for corrugating cardboard boxes. Ulrich built the company--known then as Laser Applications, Inc.--into a contract-manufacturing powerhouse, growing it into the largest combined laser and waterjet machining contract service provider in the world.

Today, LAI is known for its nationwide facilities, technological developments and reputation for pushing the limits of laser and waterjet processing. The precision components that LAI manufactures are used in aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical and power generation equipment around the world. With 2007 sales projected at more than $46 million, LAI maintains significant and varied manufacturing contracts with many Fortune 500 companies, including 3M, BAE, Boeing, Dresser Rand, General Electric,  Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, Rolls Royce Engines and Schlumberger, to name a few.

Ulrich, a passionate technological innovator and pioneer in his field, continued to build the business in the early 1980s by securing manufacturing contracts and adding new laser machining processes, including high-speed laser cutting, localized welding, small-hole drilling and permanent marking capabilities. He was instrumental in developing split-beam laser workstations and high-speed automated laser-cutting machines, precision waterjet drilling techniques, advanced waterjet equipment and many other technological innovations, including several patented technologies. He also led developments in a wide variety of applications ranging from precision laser-welded medical components to titanium screen panels used in the assembly of Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor fighter jet. Today, LAI operates more than 100 laser,  waterjet, EDM, high-speed machining, conventional CNC, grinding and welding workstations and employs more than 240 people in five regional U.S. manufacturing facilities, totaling 162,600 square feet.

During the 1980s, LAI expanded the depth of its capabilities from laser heat-treating to additional laser processes—laser welding, drilling and cutting. It continued its concentration in non-conventional machining by purchasing its first waterjet cutting workstation in 1987. As one of the first companies to bring an abrasive waterjet cutting machine into a U.S. job shop, this event marked a turning point for LAI. Waterjet services had grown to account for half of LAI’s business. At times, the company experimented with bringing additional technologies in house, including CNC routing, electrical-discharge machining and laser and waterjet systems development.

LAI continued to add new technologies and talented people to its capabilities in the 1990s, adding five-axis waterjet stations, laser marking services and automated laser processing machines, capable of producing millions of precision parts. LAI’s laser applications range from laser heat-treating locomotive liners to laser cutting rolls of fiberglass fabric with a dedicated beam-splitting station. The company’s five-axis abrasive waterjets have cut beams and columns for a new generation of space shuttles, access doors in aircraft wings and custom components for oil well drilling.

LAI experienced rapid growth in the 1990s by acquiring additional manufacturing contracts, incorporating new manufacturing techniques and expanding facilities. LAI Midwest opened in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1994, and expanded in 1997. The flagship plant, LAI East, doubled the size of its Westminster, Md., manufacturing facility in 1998. LAI Southwest opened in 1996 in Phoenix, Ariz., and nearly tripled the size of its manufacturing floor space when it moved into a plant nearby in 1999.

The new decade marked growth in niche markets and refinement of LAI’s core technologies. The company continues to innovate processes in contract manufacturing in the 2000s, including developments in automating its laser stations, improving hole-drilling technology and increasing waterjet cutting speeds. The company expanded its development of advanced waterjet equipment, and cutting and drilling techniques with the formation of LAI Advanced Waterjet Technologies, Inc. in 2001.

LAI has continued to reach challenging milestones, including earning ISO certification at all of its facilities in 2001. In addition to numerous supplier certifications and quality awards over the years, LAI earned the prestigious Lockheed Martin Corporation STAR Supplier Facility award in 2002.

LAI suffered its greatest setback Oct. 4, 2002, when Ulrich, at the height of his career, died unexpectedly. Losing their founder, leader and friend, employees regrouped and picked up the torch to carry on the commitment to the company's  vision. LAI’s mission statement, established in 1997, was enhanced in 2007: Solve our customer's complex manufacturing challenges with superior quality, fair pricing and world-class service. Today, LAI is poised to reach the largest growth in its history and continue its tradition of innovation and excellence.

The company took another big step into the future when it was announced in June 2005 that the company had been acquired by Spell Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity and buyout firm based in Minneapolis, Minn. The name of the new company changed from LAI Companies to LAI International, Inc. The company purchased Southwestern Laser, Tucson, Ariz., in November 2005, and Rich Technology International, Scarborough, Maine, in 2007.

LAI continues to grow as a machining service provider to industry as it continues its tradition of innovation.