Surfacing Savvy

Why you should consider installing a surfacing lab in addition to your in-house finishing lab

By Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

Keeping costs under control and being able to control output time frames and quality are big pluses for ECPs who surface in-house. Here's what you need to think about when planning an in-office surfacing operation.

COST ASSESSMENT

What are the steps I should take to evaluate costs in setting up an in-house surfacing lab?

It's critically important to focus on assessing the overall benefit anticipated. Overall benefit can be viewed as a simple equation: Benefit = cost savings + sales increase. Start by gathering up your wholesale lab bills from the last several months. For each type of lens, total up the number of pairs and calculate average cost. This will give you a solid assessment of your current cost situation.

Next, work with your surfacing equipment vendor to obtain estimates on the costs of in-house lab surfacing. The range of costs should be comprehensive, including materials, labor, equipment, lease, maintenance, consumables, breakage, and renovation costs. Certain costs, such as labor, equipment maintenance, and breakage can vary significantly, so be sure to select a vendor with a solid reputation for quality and post-sale support.

Finally, compare your current costs to those anticipated with in-house surfacing to calculate the savings. Several vendors provide free cost savings analysis to make the comparison easy.

Finally, compare your current costs to those anticipated with in-house surfacing to calculate the savings. Several vendors provide free cost savings analysis to make the comparison easy.

Review any records you may have on customer attrition: How many customers have gone elsewhere because of quality problems, long delivery times, pricing, and other reasons? Remember that with every customer lost, one or two referrals may have gone with them.

—Alan Hodges, division president, Optek, Pinellas Park, Fla.

BUILD A BRIDGE

How can I ensure my in-house lab's AR system synchs with the surfacing system and properly functions?

Over the past seven years, stack designs (process recipes) have evolved and there are numerous designs available from a number of sources capable of producing highquality AR lenses.

Perhaps more important than choosing the right coating equipment and AR process is choosing the right hard-coating technology to form a bridge between the surfacing and AR coating departments. Any lab entering the AR coating market should spend the most time researching various hard-coating chemistry and equipment options. AR adhesion is always better using solvent-based hard-coating chemistry underneath the AR.

Solvent-based chemistry is now available in thermal, UV, and hybrid curing versions, applied to lenses after surfacing using either dip or spin coating equipment that's available in multiple sizes. A good vendor will analyze quality requirements, cost goals, facility constraints, and throughput needs.

Hard-coating techniques should even vary depending on the polishing techniques used in surfacing. Alloy blocking is critical to avoid contaminating hard-coating systems. The key to producing high quality AR is choosing complementary surfacing, AR, and hard-coating processes that are designed to work together.

—Larry Clarke, president and CEO, Satisloh

CONNECTIVITY WITHOUT HEADACHES

I'm considering setting up an inhouse surfacing lab. I already have a small- to medium-size in-house finishing laboratory.

What are the installation steps I need to take to make sure the edging equipment synchs and works properly with the new surfacing equipment?

If the surfacing equipment is made by a different manufacturer than your finishing equipment, there will usually be a Lab Management System (LMS) required to bring it all together. If the manufacturer for the surfacing and finishing equipment is the same, there are opportunities to use their proprietary system as well.

When the equipment manufacturers differ, it's important for vendors to understand the options to connect the two systems.

If the finishing lab has been operating as a closed loop system under a specific manufacturer's protocol, then the merger will probably initiate the need to switch to The Vision Council (TVC) protocol. TVC standard makes the connectivity of various devices standard. If both manufacturers confirm that their equipment conforms to the TVC Data Communication Standards, you should be in a good position. More elaborate set-ups and sophisticated equipment may require another level of communication in order to take advantage of more recent lens processing developments.

—Frank Balestra, technical director, Santinelli International

FREEDOM TO FREE-FORM

I'm a mid-size optical retailer who's considering setting up a full-service in-house lab that includes free-form capabilities.

What should I be aware of?

Surfacing free-form is just like surfacing any other lens provided you have the right equipment. Look at companies that offer small lines that can do it all, from standard surfacing up to any free-form progressive addition lens production.

Generator and polisher are key pieces of equipment and should require very little space while producing the precise optics of a larger production line.

A line that requires only about 140 square feet of space while producing about 40 lenses per hour would be ideal.

To do free-form, you'll need a prism blocker, freeform generator and polisher, and a simple tabletop laser engraver.

Some free-form designers offer pre-engraved lenses; in those cases, a laser engraver isn't necessary.

You'll need the space and compressed air for all the machines. There are no secondary needs as far as specialty chemicals, ventilation, etc., just air and electric to each machine.

Each of your machines requires a coolant tank or chiller included in the package to make everything selfcontained in the lab environment.

Contract with a lens supplier; they can set up the free-form software in your office. There are different fees and programs, but the free-form set-up lives inside your host surfacing software program. The process then becomes pretty seamless.

—Kurt Atchison, president, Schneider Optical Machines EB