EYE ON EQUIPMENT
What NOT To Do
by Susan P. Tarrant

For some ECPs, the many benefits of installing an in-office lab—whether it's one edger or a whole finishing system—can get lost due to some common (and completely avoidable) missteps.

Equipment experts from Briot-Weco, National Optronics, and Santinelli International have provided the following real-life examples of omissions, mistakes, and bad decisions that can sink a new edging venture before it gets off the ground.

COMMON MISSTEPS

■ Insufficient skill level. While some equipment companies may present their product as "idiot proof," it's truly not. There needs to be a solid base of training on equipment and a qualified backup person at the ready.

■ Fear of new challenges. So many ECPs will send out jobs such as rimless or progressives to the lab because they think they're too complicated to do in-house.

Today's equipment is designed to handle those jobs with ease. All it takes is a little willingness to tackle something new.

■ Hiding the talent. Some ECPs put their most expensive and experienced employees back in the lab instead of out front with patients.

Use their experience where it serves you best: With your patients. Today's equipment, while not foolproof, can certainly be manned by newer-but-trained employees.

■ Outdated equipment. ECPs ensure their exam lanes are up-to-the-minute, but they let their edging equipment sit for years without an update. Technical advances are happening every year to make edgers faster, more accurate, easier, more efficient, and profitable.

■ Undercharging. A common pricing mistake among independent ECPs is not charging enough for services, lenses, and other items in the name of competition.

Patients come to you because of your experience and expertise. Reducing your pricing reduces, instead of promotes, the importance of that expertise.

■ Limited capability. This is more than just outdated equipment. This represents not having the right equipment to meet your needs.

If you're seeing a rise in rimless orders but don't have an edger with drilling capability, you're not serving your patients adequately.

■ Lack of maintenance. All equipment requires both maintenance and service. While ECPs should not be doing any major repairs, keeping their equipment in good operating order by performing preventive maintenance will save them from future headaches.