eye on equipment
Equipment Futurecast
Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC
According to EB's July regional trends report, while nearly half of respondents (46 percent) said they do not currently do in-office edging, that's poised to change. Nearly a third (31 percent) of ECPs who don't edge in-house are planning on adding in-house edging capabilities. In addition, according to the same survey, AR is on the brink of an in-office processing breakthrough.
Since equipment is literally the driving force behind what lenses are produced and sold, this look into the future of in-office equipment developments offers a glimpse into what will be appearing on the marketplace frontlines. Learn the future now so you can proactively plan your in-office lab.
AR READY
While AR isn't currently as high a percentage of sales in the U.S. as overseas, it will be. Equipment—both wholesale and retail AR systems—is beginning to play a big part in AR's increase in the marketplace.
“We see further and more rapid expansion of prescribing and recommendation of AR lenses,” observes Ron McGhay, executive vice president of marketing and sales for QSpex Technologies.
“This trend is well underway as the vast majority of progressive practices today are already making AR lenses the standard offered to virtually every patient,” he adds. Big box retail is planning to publicly promote quality AR in about an hour, with locations that are AR equipped—literally—to deliver that sales and marketing message.
“You can produce AR lenses on-site now in under an hour,” McGhay confirms. “Likewise, we believe the underdeveloped polarized lens market is poised to explode. What better way to drive second-pair sales than with in-office lens processing at much lower costs to ECPs?”
IN-OFFICE VIABILITY
In-office labs will see an increase into medium- and small-sized independent practices. “The continuing evolution of lens materials will drive lab processing costs higher, thus making in-office finishing even more financially viable,” Matt Cevasco, president and general manager of Briot USA says.
Additionally, ease-of-use and efficiency will play a part in in-office lab increase. “I see the edger business continuing to evolve into machines with incredibly advanced capabilities that are also easy to operate,” Cevasco adds. “As frame designers continue to innovate, edger companies will keep up.”
DIGITAL MINI-PRODUCTION
Just as the rest of the world goes smaller (PC to laptop to tablet), so will optical equipment. Product and sales growth through utilization of small technology is the future.
“From the professional service aspect, we foresee growth opportunities at the private retail sector as improvements to in-office free-form mini-production labs deliver real return on investment (ROI) cost efficiencies with state-of-the-art, cut-to-coat—no polishing—enhancements leading the way,” says Michael J. Rybacki, senior vice president sales and marketing, Seiko Optical Products of America.
ONLINE RETAILING
Online spectacle—not just contact lens—retailing is in its infancy, but is predicted to be a market force within five years. Retail trends as they relate to spectacle lenses and lens production will develop different business models and marketing techniques.
“Having IOF capabilities will allow independent ECPs to offer substantially improved delivery service to their patients, which is a compelling differential to what online retailers will be able to offer,” Gerard Santinelli, president and CEO of Santinelli International, points out.
Brick-and-mortar shops will need to be faster and more flexible in their product delivery and service options and offer an online eyewear component in order to out-service purely online eyewear retailers.
GAINING CONTROL
One benefit of IOF is the ability to control not only the production process, but lab costs—two factors that will be stronger decision points for ECPs in the future, as digital production and products increase in market force.
“Based on our research, in order for ECPs to personally control lens quality and the level of service, we believe that over the next three to five years, more optical outlets will install or expand their in-office lab capabilities in an effort to improve quality and service levels,” says Steve Martin, CEO of QSpex Technologies. “This will accelerate as newer options become available, allowing offices to better control lens quality and tailor service to individual needs.”
Controlling costs now and in the future is one way to make a positive impact on a practice's bottom line. “ECPs must be able to control their costs,” Santinelli says. “IOF offers ECPs the most substantial leverage to buy lenses as opposed to ordering lenses; the latter implying a substantially more passive behavior, with little control and less cost, quality, and delivery options.” EB
| INCREASE = DECREASE |
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| An increase in digital processing and popularity of digital lenses means an increase in marketplace demand, which will decrease the price of digital product to further grow the market. “The rate and pace of technological change in the improvement of eyewear and lens design will continue,” affirms Curt Brey, vice president of marketing and business development at Coburn Technologies. That means faster is better, and better is faster. “Motivated by a rapidly aging global population and technological development, free-form lenses will increase in popularity and demand while naturally decreasing in market price,” Brey says. “This will pull along AR treatment.” Some ECPs used to say, “Do you want it right or do you want it fast?” In the future, faster definitely won't mean compromising on quality. “Faster delivery will be more important than ever with many of the big box retailers going back to the one-hour service deliverable and heavily marketing themselves as such,” says Gerard Santinelli, president and CEO of Santinelli International. “With the continued proliferation of managed vision care, in-office finishing (IOF) will become a major opportunity for ECPs to maximize their profitability on that growing portion of their business.” |
| FUTURE EQUIPMENT HIGH POINTS |
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A rundown of what experts predict for the future of in-office equipment: 1. Rise in AR sales driven by an uptick in in-house AR processing and promotion. 2. Medium- and small-sized retail locations will adopt in-house lens production in order to compete with the “big guys.” 3. Free-form mini-labs will open up digital processing to every level of eyewear retailer. 4. The cost of digitally produced lenses will decrease. 5. Faster is better; better is faster…without any compromise in production speed and product quality. 6. Online eyewear retailing will become a force for brick-and-mortar locations to deal with within five years. 7. Controlling eyewear product output will become more crucial with the rapid market pace and plethora of products. |
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