first person

five Questions for…

Alex Incera is the president of a new optical equipment company, Coburn Technologies, Inc., which is comprised of executives from Gerber Scientific, Inc., and Gerber Coburn.

An MIT graduate with eight years in R&D, Incera joined Gerber Coburn in 1995, and in 2008, he became president of Gerber Coburn. He is now running Coburn Technologies as a private company.

EB How will Coburn Technologies be the same or different from Gerber Coburn?

RS Years ago, Coburn Optical and Gerber Optical were stand-alone companies and Coburn Technologies is returning to that model. The biggest change is that we're no longer a part of a large public company, Gerber Scientific, whose focus is on other industries.

From the owners to the people who design new products, manufacture them, and service them, we'll spend 100 percent of our time on our customers, products, and technologies.

Our privately owned structure will allow us to think more about long-term growth rather than responding to short-term financial pressures typical of modern public companies.

EB What is the future model for equipment companies?

RS We believe digital lens processing will evolve into a more distributed manufacturing model. We have already begun to introduce technology that will take free-form processing out of the high production, high investment, centralized manufacturing category into a world where the footprint, cost associated with manufacturing, and capital investment are smaller.

EB How can ECPs start an in-office lab?

RS The decision to open up an in-office lab is the answer to some of the key questions that ECPs are asking, such as how can I improve service to my customers, how can I improve the value of the products I provide, how can I increase revenue, and how can I take more control over my business instead of giving up control to lens manufacturers? As ECPs consider setting up an in-office lab, they should ask what costs are involved and what payback is associated with those investments.

EB What can Coburn Technologies do that the big guys usually can't?

RS Independent ownership allows us to focus and also be flexible. Large companies tend to have less flexibility to address on-the-street issues, while we have the ability to respond to key issues quickly.

For example, a customer might have an issue that requires the salesperson or serviceperson to work outside the norm. The decision to work outside the norm in an independent business can happen in one phone call, whereas the big guys usually require a meeting or several people to be involved in the decision. We don't have that restriction, so it allows us to be more responsive.

EB What are your core markets? How will they be developed?

RS Our core markets are retailers, ECPs, and labs. We're not looking to narrow our space but to expand into areas where we don't participate today.

We'll be expanding our product line with both internally developed products as well as products we'll bring to the market through strategic partnerships, and potentially even acquisitions. We view service as a critically important part of the business and plan to make investments in that area to further enhance our service capabilities.