One of the best known independent prescription houses in the UK, Waterside Labs was founded in 1972 by Ray Smith. Since then the lab has kept pace with the many changes within the world of optics and is currently under the stewardship of Chris Smith (Ray’s son) and optics industry stalwart Bob Forgan, who serve as joint managing directors.
Ray Smith started the business by supplying a few local customers after working as an optical technician. As the enterprise grew and surfacing was added to the initial edging service, it shifted premises around the Southampton area and peaked in terms of size while supplying a major multiple during the 1980s.
‘In the beginning the lab offered edging only but added in surfacing capabilities as it grew,’ says Forgan. ‘There was an opportunity to go solely into the service of this multiple and at that point Ray took the decision to concentrate on solely on serving independent practices and remain master of his own destiny.’
The current lab has been located in Totton, just over the River Test from Southampton, for 12 years and employs some 25 staff across three departments: glazing, surfacing and customer services/order processing.
Remarkably Ray Smith is still the first to arrive and last to leave the lab on most working days, overseeing the supply process and starting each day at 5.30am by collecting the deliveries from the local DX depot (conveniently located along with a Royal Mail centre within walking distance of the lab). His day is then spent on the lab bench working on customers’ orders for at least 12 hours.
[CaptionComponent="2224"]An expert workforce
However Ray’s extensive experience and commitment is just the tip of the iceberg with the various Waterside employees’ lengths of service adding up to centuries of expertise in total.
‘Quality of product and service are very much at the heart of this lab’, says Chris Smith. ‘This is reflected in the staff experience and the quality of machinery and other elements we use. There are people here who have huge know-how in lab work generally and Waterside’s business specifically.’
Forgan agrees: ‘Personal knowledge and customer service make Waterside stand out. Customers like the fact they can call and speak to someone who is fully aware of the job and has the knowledge to advise on any aspect of it if necessary. We are always prepared to go the extra mile and pass on any benefits we can to our independent customers. I feel we understand the challenge for independent practices against the multiples because we face a similar situation in our own business.’
On the technical side of the business, Waterside benefits from consistent and heavy investment in state-of-the-art machinery and a computer system that links it all up.
‘The surfacing lab alone with all the Optotech machines must have at least £1.5m worth of equipment,’ says Forgan. ‘The glazing lab adds another half a million too. Over the years this sort of investment has been made possible by good housekeeping. We have bought things when we could afford it and the lab is fortunate to have an owner in Ray who does not have to answer to a bank and reinvests as much as possible.’
The investment in freeform was essential given the changes in the lens market.
‘We started with freeform back in 2012,’ says Chris Smith ‘This involved buying a Optotech Flash digital surfacing machine, a Optotech freeform engraver, an auto taper and a freeform polisher. The most recent addition though is the EzFit industrial edger from Mei Systems. The underlying reason for all this investment was the market shifting from traditionally surfaced, conventional progressives into freeform technology.
‘ We took a conscious decision to stay at the forefront of the market to ensure long term survival. Conventional products are declining so to ensure the long term survival and success of the lab it was a necessity to look into the future.’
[CaptionComponent="2225"]Own label products
The freeform equipment enabled Waterside to create its own label products and reduce dependency on external lens suppliers.
‘Another factor in the move to freeform was that the supply of semi-finished lenses became less certain ,’ says Forgan. ‘In order to continue as a manufacturing optician – as we see ourselves – we needed to make our own products in order to maintain the quality of service to our customers.
‘Most recently we introduced the Elysium series of individually personalised lenses that dovetail with our visual lifestyle analysis app. This app was specifically developed in conjunction with an international lens design company to unravel some of the mysteries of the freeform for the consumer. It makes it easy to see the difference between the various lens designs and how an individual can be matched to the appropriate one.’
‘The app has been very well received as it is user friendly and intuitive and can be used by the patient on their own or guided by someone working in practice.’
Highlighting Waterside’s ongoing development, in the past month the lab has significantly improved its Sunactive photochromic product range with the addition of four new colours, taking the range to six.
‘Alongside the traditional brown and grey there is now a green, a purple, a pink and a blue,’ says Forgan. ‘Mass production of coloured photochromic is tricky but by working with a major international manufacturer and freeform technology we can now offer single vision and progressives in all of the colours.
’It really is something that complements fashion frames, offers people the chance to put a unique twist on their purchase. All things considered we are well set to continue serving our customers with excellence into the future.’
[CaptionComponent="2226"]Concurrent to its freeform investment Waterside also adopted a new software package that has made a significant improvement to efficiency.
‘The Annapurna system we upgraded to communicate with all our different machinery,’ says Chris Smith. ‘It is a lot more flexible and means that there is no double entry of orders. From the practice point of view, it offers a more seamless journey and we’ve had feedback from customers who appreciate that they can just place an order online and the job arrives correct and on time.
‘Because Chris is strong on computing and technology we’re essentially a development lab for this software and have been able to gain all the benefits of that,’ adds Forgan. ‘Having someone who understands optics and computers has been invaluable.’
Overall Waterside look well placed to continue serving independent practices for a long time yet.
