Prescription lab tours used to have the air of a physics lesson with an emphasis on electronics, interference patterns, high vacuum technology and sputtering plumes.
Labs have never been more high-tech, but at Hoya’s Wrexham lab, reduced lead times, communication and excellent service are equally likely to be cited as reasons for new equipment investment as edge thickness, improved transmissibility or drilling technology.
Investment in Wrexham is all about supporting independent customers, says managing director, Martin Batho. He nonchalantly describes the lab as much like any modern lab you would find among the leading lenses companies before explaining the investment that has been ploughed into automation.
The 7,700sqm lab uses equipment from MEI Systems and Satisloh for generating and polishing while a plethora of the latest technology from Optotech, Schneider, Optimal, Nidek and A&R is other processes to ensure customers have the best in quality and service.
‘We continue to work on automating the surfacing process and expand on the remote edging,’ he says. ‘It’s all freeform cut to polish and all automated from blocking through to inspection. The focus is on further reducing lead times so automation tends to be the way. The point of having a local lab is to provide the best service. Several our competitors are now offshore, or a large percentage of what they produce is offshore. From an independent’s perspective we try to make as much as possible as we can here.’
Any products that can not be made on site are brought in from one of Hoya’s international labs to help speed the turnaround of jobs. For those looking for even faster service a fast track option is also available.
To maintain consistency Batho says Wrexham keeps its volumes through the lab stable. ‘We have a cap on the volume so what we have is a consistent throughput in the local lab and then the peaks and troughs of volume and any overcapacity in volume we flow out to Hungary.’ He says this is the best way of coping with a busy Monday or the tint season rather than bringing in unskilled workers.
On the shop floor the picture is of a modern lab: auto-taping; auto-blocking; auto-generating; auto-polishing; auto-de-blocking; auto-cleaning; auto-tape-stripping and auto-inspections. ‘Pretty much from semi-finished through to the finished inspected lens it’s totally automatic,’ says Batho.
He says this is not dissimilar to other major labs, because of the technology made available from the equipment manufacturers, and it makes complete sense to harness it. Processes are faster, efficiencies are greater and the delivery times to the customer are improved he says.
‘We do use new technology well and with our remote edging, the accuracy of the latest equipment just gets better and better and that’s well liked by our customers.’ He also says that while most independents want to use remote edging Hoya also has a full glazing service. ‘If there’s a frame or a premium lens type they feel they don’t want to take a risk on then they tend to want to send the frame into us. Remote edging these days is accurate, invariably if you have a tracer in practice and you are happy to assemble then that’s the way to go because it’s so low cost.’
The one area Hoya is a little different is when it comes to coatings. It has industrial scale vacuum coating and a double surface technology process for its premium progressive design. This is backed by its stringent coating testing procedures and its own Hoya International Quality Standards.
Commercial confidentiality precludes Hoya from giving exact details on product volumes but Batho says the 150 staff on site are kept busy and the firm has enjoyed double digit growth for the past 12 years. He is also open about how the ‘mega lab’ in Hungary backs up the local operation. As well as using the lab in Hungary as a volume overflow, some specialist products also come from there. He uses the example of very high index lenses such as 1.74 which requires specialist techniques like a double dip lacquer. ‘You need specialist equipment to do that and for the volume we have at the upper level it doesn’t make sense to do that,’ says Batho. Hoya’s overseas lab is also used to service its corporate customers allowing Wrexham to focus on local customers. ‘We don’t make anything here other than for independents,’ he says.