Specialty Optical Systems, Inc. (SOS) founded in May of 1981

Our Founder: William F. Petty (May 1939-2004) began his career in Los Alamos, NM working with the microbiological effects of radiation in the 1960’s. In the early 1970’s, he decided to work for Zeiss as a microscope salesman where he worked with companies, hospitals, and institutions to accomplish their optical needs. Then in the early 1980’s he decided to step out on his own and pursue the dream of owning his own company. With the help of his wife he accomplished this goal. For over 35 years Mr. Petty pursued the field of optics with a passion to satisfy customer requirements and SOS continues with his passion as a family owned and operated business today.

Our Plan: In May of 1981, Specialty Optical Systems original business plan was to distribute microscopes, optical systems and technical lighting to high tech companies throughout the Southwest. The business literally started on a breakfast room table and operated out of the Petty's home until moving to thier own building in 1982.Requests for replacement light bulbs for systems led to a relationship with Ushio America starting in 1984. SOS secured exclusive rights to distribute Ushio stepper lamps used in semiconductor photolithography processes starting in 1985. SOS also became authorized distributors for GE Lighting, Osram/Sylvania, Philips Lighting and several other specialized lighting manufacturers.

SOS Today: As SOS became recognized as an excellent source for hard to find parts we rapidly grew its product offering. Today, SOS provides over 4,500 parts to the semiconductor industry and participates in Supplier Managed Inventory programs with consignment inventory in 17 locations in four states. Medical facilities, churches, educational institutions, entertainment facilities, TV stations, theaters, manufacturers, laboratories, and general industrial users are all important market segments we now serve.

On the Internet: February of 1998, SOS launched eSpares.com which at the time was the first web site that specifically targeted semiconductor spare parts for fabs (the site was sold to another company). January of 2003, SOS launched SpecialtyOptical.com as an e-commerce web site to detail our optical product offering and laboratory supplies. March of 2004, SOS launched SOSLightBulbs.com which targets retail, consumer, and commercial replacement light bulb customers. In July of 2006, SOS launched SOSCleanroom.com to focus on the cleanroom products used by traditional semiconductor clientele, medical facilities, educational institutions, pharmaceuticals manufacturers, hospital pharmacies and independent compounding pharmacies. SOS has been distributing to clean rooms since 1990, and is proud to have been designated as the ITW Texwipe Master Distributor for the Southwest Region of the United States.

SOS Future: As a certified Woman-Owned Small Business, SOS is proving itself once again as a reliable source to government agencies and educational institutions. SOS has a State of Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) certification and is certified by the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA)and the Women's Business Council - Southwest (WBCS), which includes certification with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). We encourage anyone with a MWBE purchasing initiative or needing a WBE business partner to contact us to discuss how we can work together.

April of 2011, SOS received its 11th prestigious Supplier Excellence Award from its customer, Texas Instruments (TI), for the outstanding contributions of the SOS team servicing TI's supply needs. SOS was selected as one of the 16 recipients of the award from TI's worldwide supplier base of more than 12,000 companies for its continued global commitment in helping TI meet its goals to grow its business.