A lot can change in two years. When Optician visited TGF Optics in Blaydon-on-Tyne at the end of 2013, the lab was run on traditional lines, providing good service to its mainly north-east client base through somewhat outdated machinery. Fast forward to the present and the differences are striking.
Although the lab is still in Blaydon, it is now located in more extensive premises in which a much larger team surfaces and glazes lenses on behalf of practices from all over the UK. Driving this huge increase in productivity is state-of-the-art equipment that has enabled the lab to provide a significantly improved service at no extra cost to its clients.
The catalyst for these changes was a chance meeting at Optrafair 2014 that eventually led to a mutually beneficial relationship between TGF Optics and optical supplier Birmingham Optical.
‘At Optrafair I bumped into Birmingham Optical’s Deep Singh while socialising at the hotel bar,’ says Usman Aziz, managing director at TGF Optics. ‘I hadn’t had much interaction with Birmingham Optical at that stage so I explained my position in the market. At the show, our stand overlooked theirs and I kept noticing a Nidek lab machine.’
The machine in question was a fourth generation Nidek SE-9090 high speed edger. Birmingham Optical serves as the Japanese instrument firm’s UK distributor.
Neil Townsend, managing director at Birmingham Optical says: ‘The SE-9090 was first introduced in 1995 and we were demonstrating the latest version which had introduced super grooving into the cutting chamber. We were also demonstrating it in automation with a robot module loading it. Usman showed forward thinking by realising what that aspect could also bring to his business in the long run.’
After several phone conversations post-Optrafair, Birmingham Optical visited the lab to begin a consultation process.
Aziz says: ‘They came up and looked at the business – what we were currently doing and how many jobs we wanted to do in the future. We all felt that the SE-9090 with a robot unit was the way forward. Once that was agreed we had it installed within a month. At the same time we also bought a Nidek Ice 1000 Intelligent Blocker.’
The consultation did not end with the installation, in fact Birmingham Optical remained in constant contact to ensure TGF was able to maximise the capabilities of the machine.
‘The support I’ve had from Birmingham Optical has been superb,’ says Aziz. ‘It has been invaluable in expanding the business and on a practical level I’ve sent emails on a Saturday and had one of their engineers with me on the Sunday.’
A doubling of capacity
[CaptionComponent="1965"]The new machinery made a startling difference to the lab. Beforehand, TGF functioned with three manual edgers producing 50 to 60 jobs per day with five lab technicians working flat out. After the installation the same five people could produce 120 jobs, an immediate doubling of capacity. This meant that Aziz was in the position to find new business at Optrafair 2015.
‘Optrafair came around again and this time we went with the aim of finding new practices to work with,’ he says. ‘The show went well in terms of new business and that put us in a position to purchase more equipment.’
The immediate goal was to transform its freeform lens offering.
‘We applied the same development process to the surfacing side of the business and in early 2015 purchased two Optotech freeform generators. Our old processes in surfacing were similar to those on the glazing side – slow with lots of manpower and not much output. Now we have two freeform generators, blocking system and polishing – all state-of-the-art and producing great quality.’
Aziz says each new investment has opened new avenues for the business.
‘You increase your capacity or abilities in one area and that gives you the opportunity for a growth cycle,’ says Aziz. ‘Given the way our business had changed by this point it was now important to process high value lenses like Trivex as quickly as regular lenses and to be able to do rimless lenses.’
Fortunately, there was a new machine from Nidek offering just this capability.
Townsend says: ‘Nidek had finally launched the SE-1 Xtrimer Dry Cut Edger. It was introduced in such a way that existing automation systems can be modified easily to serve the SE-1. Given there are 150-160 existing robots in marketplace this was very important. By then we had been working with Aziz for about 18 months and it’s fair to say we had won his confidence. So he went with a new automation system with the SE-1 and kept his existing robot serving the SE-9090.’
[CaptionComponent="1966"]The SE-1 uses no water and processes Trivex and polycarbonates at the same speed as high index or CR39 lenses. At the same time TGF purchased an updated version – the 1200 – of its existing Nidek intelligent blocker.
‘TGF now has a SE-1 machine that perfectly complements its freeform production facility,’ says Singh. ‘It can produce, finish and cut any lens form that the optical market requires to any standard required and all in the least labour intensive way possible.’
Today the lab employs 20 people, an increase of 12 from two years ago, split across office, surfacing and glazing teams. Aziz has made a point of recruiting four young adults to the business with the idea of providing opportunities in the local area.
‘We’ve put a lot of time and effort into four youngsters. One who has been in optics for only six months is now second in charge on the surfacing side. He can calibrate the machines, identify problems and is soaking up knowledge on the machine side from Birmingham Optical. We’ve grown during a recession and there’s lots of young talent out there that just needs a chance.’
Pricing benefits
Despite the improvements made at TGF, the price structure has not changed with the lab passing the benefits onto its customers.
‘We are able to do this because the technology has improved our quality, speed and accuracy,’ says Aziz. ‘As we’ve grown we’ve been able to renegotiate better deals from our suppliers. Now we have accounts all over the country and we are dealing with many other labs with our freeform product. We can now take on jobs other labs can’t.’
Despite only moving premises some 18 months ago, the current rate of growth means that Aziz expects to be on the move again in the future. ‘We plan to be here for another two years,’ he says. ‘The ideal is to have a dedicated lab facility.’
‘TGF is becoming a mass production facility,’ agrees Townsend, ‘and everything that has been bought so far is completely futureproofed.’