When you have spent 27 years working in any industry, you have certainly earned the moniker "veteran." But even though she has logged a lot of optical hours, Terry Zinno, vice president of product and distribution at 125-store Sight Resource Corp., continues to refine and reinvent ways to make the buying process run more smoothly. "I have been doing this my whole life," says Zinno, who started working at the now out-of-business frame manufacturer Univis when she was 18. "It was my summer job and I never left." Zinno worked in the manufacturing end for two years and then moved up to the purchasing department. After this, she moved to the scheduling department and learned how to manage inventory along a just-in-time schedule. "When I left I was VP of materials." Her next move-to doing the buying at Eyeworld in Natick, Mass.-would take her over to the retail side of the business. "I loved the buying and was ready for it," she explains. "It was new and different. Plus, it was 12 years ago and the industry was very different. It wasn't as fast-moving and there wasn't as much competition like today with all the chains and saturation of retail out there. There were a lot fewer brands and no managed care." Soon, however, Zinno left to handle purchasing for Cambridge Eye Doctors, which was soon after bought by Sight Resource. Today, she runs a seven-person buying and distribution department at Sight Resource. Even though her duties reach far beyond buying, she says she is still very hands-on. "You have to come up with some very