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opticallabproducts.com FINISHING PROFITS BENCHMARK THE BUSINESS If you operate a busy lab, you know that sometimes it can be very hectic and overwhelming. Often this can lead to a lack of focus and prioriti- zation. One of the most important factors in decreasing costs is to know what these costs are. Bench- marking your business costs can help you analyze them to fnd out if you are running your business or if your business is running you. TRACK EXPENDITURES To get a clear picture of your fnishing operation, you must track expenditures. Is your staff working at full capacity, or do they spend time on Facebook, their cellphone, Try to minimize waste and errors by keeping staff educated on the latest technologies and how to use them. Using a fnishing system like MEI's 641 can enable a lab to increase edging productivity. or surfng the Internet? Do you keep exact records of spoilage or just scribble, "Need new left lens" on a piece of paper and replace the damaged lens? Do you know at a glance what your sales totals, inventory costs, payroll, and overheads are? This is, of course, only a small fraction of all the expenditures and costs involved. The main point is to track as many benchmarks as possible to discover what is essential to running a proftable fnishing department and then to decrease the benchmarks to a manageable number. MAKE A LIST! Once you choose to make your fnishing department more proft- able, you should write down your priorities in order of importance. Specify your goals and corre- sponding strategies to achieving them. Carefully work out how you plan to implement them. Increasing profts requires strict attention to detail, knowing what works and what doesn't, and it requires the willingness to change and adapt. But, most of all, it demands patience. Steven Warfeld is a lab tech- nician and freelance writer based in Harrisburg, PA. what you're looking for as an optical lab, you have a lot to fgure out. So much goes into running your business, and fnding new ways to run it more effciently is no easy feat. Find out how members of The Vision Council can serve as your team of experts for everything from processing to fnishing to knowledge about the latest products available. Let them identify the solutions for improving your practice - so you don't have to do it alone. Learn more about our areas of expertise, and access a complete library of member companies, at www.lptresources.com . find