EYE ON EQUIPMENT

Cutting-Edge Service, Easy Profit

What ECPs say they like about the latest advanced edgers

Some ECPS do their in-house finishing with basic edgers, others utilize mid-range models, and still others prefer advanced machines. Those using advanced automated edgers justify the investment by touting the benefits to both the practice and patients. We spoke with several ECPs about what they get out of going advanced.

MEETING ALL NEEDS

Charlie Blankenship, ABOC, lab manager with The Spectacle Shoppe, with four locations in Minneapolis-St. Paul, says his advanced edger “handles basic and custom jobs with no problem.”

✓ DIVERSIFICATION. With advanced edgers, the design cutting can be adjusted to suit the operator, making its operation personalized, Blankenship notes. Special wheels can make edging faster and can cut specific materials like polycarbonate, Trivex, and 1.74 index faster, with no odor or swarf. Other features can include full-wrap capabilities, drill and groove mounts, and the ability to edge full metal and plastic jobs.

✓ ACCURACY. All the bells and whistles are worth it when the resulting lens is accurate. “My current edger does high base curves, specialty bevels, and more,” says John Chong, optician/owner of Omni Vision Optical in Center City, Philadelphia. “It’s highly accurate, which is especially important with drill jobs.”

“I prefer advanced edging because it’s a faster producer and can customize a bevel to a greater extent,” adds Stephen Rosenberg, O.D., of 10/10 Optics in New York City. “Cost is not an issue. I look for reliability in a machine.”

The biggest business advance to edging in-house is, according to Barry Laslow, lab manager at 10/10 Optics: “The ability to control the finished product on-site and be aware of the product and process nuances.”

An edger’s accuracy provides for a good cut the first time, with infrequent touch-ups. “With my new edger, 99% of jobs are done correctly the first time. It takes around five minutes to edge a pair of lenses. I only spend around two hours a day in the lab. It saves me time to do other things,” notes Chong.

✓ EASE OF USE. The more advanced the edger, the easier it is to use, and the quicker you can get a staffer trained on it. “The edger that I purchased is push-button operation with a touch screen and a lensometer in it,” offers Alan Panzer, O.D., of the Houston Dry Eye Clinic in Houston. “It’s easy to operate; we’re currently training someone to run it.”

Practice-Building Perspectives

CHARLIE BLANKENSHIP, ABOC
The Spectacle Shoppe, Minneapolis-St. Paul

“Profits increase with specialty work. Having custom capabilities opens the door for more standard work, or basic work with specialty tweaks. Say someone decides that they can’t afford completely customized eyewear, but the optician presents a semi-rimless with a fancy edge, which they determine they can afford.”

JOHN CHONG
Omni Vision Optical, Philadelphia

“We promote our in-house lab expertise. Our phone message says that we offer one-hour service. When we installed our new edger, we posted on our Facebook page that we had a new high-performance edger in our lab to ‘produce excellent quality lenses for your beautiful frames.’”

BARRY LASLOW
10/10 Optics, New York City

“The practice is able to position itself in a complete entry market. If necessary, we can offer a finished pair of eyewear to the consumer in as little as 15 minutes to an hour. There’s a small segment of the population that needs that, but we can provide it, as well as do customized, specialized work.”

That said, you still need to be on your game. “Today’s edgers can do it all, but still require a person who knows what they’re doing to run them,” says Laslow. “For example, even though advanced machines drill rimless holes, a lens may be too small, or not all the holes in a pair of rimless are the same size. An edge may vary from a bevel on top to a groove on the bottom. These situations require a person to manage the work.”

EASY PEASY

Can making a profit from in-house edging be this simple? Yes, it can.

Dr. Panzer notes: “It’s about lost opportunities. For example, if someone comes in with a pair of broken -4.00D single-vision lenses, they’ll opt to get an eye exam and new glasses with me because I can offer eyewear services right away. Patients don’t expect that, but they want it, and they’re pleased when the get that. It’s convenient. It gives us a competitive advantage.”

In addition, edger ease of use makes for satisfied staff and contented customers.

“With our advanced edger, you cut the job once and the Rx trace is stored in the memory, so the same job is repeatable,” Blankenship says. “If the customer breaks a lens, or has a new Rx and wants to keep their old frame, they don’t need to turn in their frame. We can make lenses-only quickly and accurately; there is consistency of design.”

And accuracy matters not only to the operator, but to the customer and the business bottom line.

“An accurate edger helps cut costs by reducing errors and remakes,” Chong affirms. “I don’t have lens waste. Edging accuracy offers both the customer and me peace of mind. Accurate edging makes me look good and my customers like the finished product, which means they will return to get more glasses from us and refer other people to us.”

— Karlen McLean