NOVEMBER 2012 CONTENTS
OPINIONS 03 gould on labor 04 social media advisor 06 in the lab 08 one-to-one with stefano sonzogni of mei
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 A3 introduction A4 history of us optical A8 q&a;'s with the cotran brothers A14 technology
FEATURES 11 hall of fame highlights 14 vsp discusses UNITY lenses and signature choice
RUNDOWN 17 lab news 19 new for the lab
EDITORIAL STAFF VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL Beth Schlau beth@visioncareproducts.com
PROFESSIONAL EDITOR Jim Grootegoed jg@visioncareproducts.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carol Gilhawley cg@visioncareproducts.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ana Montoya am@visioncareproducts.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Marian Zboraj mz@visioncareproducts.com
VICE PRESIDENT, DESIGN Jane Kaplan jk@visioncareproducts.com
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Diane Cuddy diane@visioncareproducts.com
PRODUCTION & WEB MANAGER Anthony Floreno af@visioncareproducts.com
WEB CONTENT MANAGER Jill Kapinus jill@visioncareproducts.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jessica Clark, Andrew Gould
BUSINESS STAFF PRESIDENT/CEO Frank Giammanco fg@visioncareproducts.com
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Shawn Mery sm@visioncareproducts.com
EASTERN SALES MANAGER Jenny Vesta jv@visioncareproducts.com
WESTERN SALES MANAGER Marie Welsch mw@visioncareproducts.com
VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING Debby Corriveau dc@visioncareproducts.com
VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS Sharon O'Hanlon so@visioncareproducts.com
WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR INDEPENDENTS?
THIS IS OUR annual Lab Innovator of the Year edition and I want to be among the first to congratulate US Optical of East Syracuse, NY for justly winning. Inside you'll see numerous articles about the company—how and why they qualified (see pages A1 to A16).
I'm a lab guy at heart and I'm concerned about the future of the smaller indepen- dents. Like our winner, US Optical, labs need to get involved, to get innovative, to get outside the box. Not many labs can afford all the new technology. If you can't, how can you compete? Are there alternative strategies? Can you combine resources with other labs in a jointly owned technology center providing your customers with competitive products? An example is Nexus Vision Group which brings independent wholesale optical laboratories together.
For the smaller labs, can you reconstruct your business to essentially become a cut-and-edge business with alliances to provide state-of-the-art products? OLP has published articles on Cherry Optical in Green Bay, WI, which ran 55% of its progressive addition lenses (PALs) as free-form in a cut-and-edge business before putting in surfacing.
Are there other services in which you can specialize? For example, take a look at specialized edging/mounts, frames, safety; and unique products. Several labs made a specialty of the Silhouette pressure mounts or unique products like Chemistrie™
lenses.
JIM GROOTEGOED Professional Editor, Optical Lab Products
But you'll never know your competition or your opportunities unless you invest in your education. And the best place to do that is at the Vision Expo East and West Optical Lab Division convocations where new products are displayed and our lab folks congregate to exchange prob- lems…and opportunities. The gatherings should not be viewed as a cost but rather as a valuable and needed education. Furthermore, legislation that affects you is often initiated or modified in The Vision Council committee meetings where your input is needed. Please consider attending these events to get a better understanding of the future of our industry and where you fit in and need to compete.
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A&R; Optical Machinery, Inc. totallyoptical.com 262-641-8780 arom@ar.be www.ar.be november 2012 1