Why do you use your current lab? Is it because of the service they provide? Or is it just what you have always done? Below you will find a number of practitioners and practice owners explain why they use certain labs, and what factors they consider most important when deciding who to go for.
Providers and products
‘I have always been drawn to the large companies for lenses and glazing, which is weird in a sense because I come from a tiny lab background and I’m very independently minded,’ says Jonathon Foreman, director of Observatory and Wardale Williams Opticians in the South East of England. ‘I will need to reflect on that.’
‘For about 20 years I was with Essilor,’ he recalls. ‘When Varilux 2 came out I wanted that brand, and I felt I wanted the manufacturer to supply it. Later, when I expanded to seven practices, I negotiated a better rate with Essilor, which was a huge success.
‘I needed to at least consider another main supplier and after many discussions in the team we decided to trial some companies.’
Stephen John, owner of Stephen John Eyecare in Worcester primarily uses ‘Rodenstock and Zeiss laboratories, and also Sinclair Optical for my glazing needs’.
He says: ‘We chose them because of the comprehensive portfolio of products they produce and because of their reputation of being able to manage a range of prescriptions from simple to complex.’
Kathryn Anthony, owner of Kathryn Anthony Optometry in Bath, says: ‘Our main supplier is Hoya for about 70% of our total business, and then we use Nikon for 25%, and other labs for 5%. We have been using Hoya for more than 15 years and we have used Nikon increasingly over the last four years.
‘They offer a broad spectrum of lenses to cover most of our client needs and their products are good quality and value for money. Nikon are a well-known reputable brand which people associate with advanced technology and their extensive range offers few limitations for a tailor-made lens.’
And the trend of sourcing from larger labs continues. Tomas Oppedal, co-owner of Eye Room in Leeds, says ‘we were with Leicester Optical from when we started being an independent practice around 18 months ago’. The practice had previously been part of a Danish optical chain.
Leicester Optical is owned by Essilor and Oppedal is increasingly getting services delivered by other Essilor providers, such as Sinclair Optical and BBGR. He says Leicester Optical provided a ‘good service’ and deliveries were made using courier DX.
Consistency is paramount
One of the recurring reasons for choosing a particular lab, for all those asked, was the consistency of service quality.
John has been using Rodenstock lenses since he started his career in optics 30 years ago. ‘The labs know me by name and I know them; I’m not just another account number which makes for a much more personal service.’ Although he has used small independent labs in the past, he feels confident that Rodenstock and Zeiss can continue to fulfil the optical needs of his patients while providing ‘excellent service’.
After a trial period evaluating his options, Foreman decided to use Hoya. He says: ‘We went with Hoya because they can deliver. We go to great lengths to entice patients to buy and the very last thing we need is to have a problem with the job. Hoya are nice, they listen, react and treat us like we hope we treat our patients – so they stay with us and recommend us.’
‘We have a longstanding relationship with Hoya; they have pretty much always given us a good service with knowledgeable reps who aren’t pushy on sales and build a good and close relationship to give us the service we need,’ says Anthony. ‘One particular rep Paul Jones who has gone on to be a regional sales manager was particularly instrumental in this (and brought cakes).’
When deciding which lab to go for, Oppedal says ‘it comes down to consistency of service and quality’. He argues: ‘as a small independent we cannot afford significant delays or inadequate products as that could be damaging to our reputation.’
‘Going forward we will look to expand our offering by working directly with other suppliers, but for now we are happy with the service we receive,’ he adds.
Cost matters, but not that much
Although deemed less important than service quality by practitioners, cost factors do come into play.
‘As we know, large corporations want to build their brand so that loads of people want to buy it at a premium price,’ says Foreman. ‘However, costs can become noticeably high and product has to perform to justify that premium.’
John says that while price is important it is not the only factor to consider. ‘Unfortunately, the current market is being driven by the demands of chains whose main aim is to keep costs down. I place more importance on the consistency of quality and manufacturing. Technicians are generally more highly skilled nowadays than they were 30 years ago, so this is not as difficult as it used to be to achieve. Cheaper lenses are often not appropriate for my patients and I aim to give them the same quality of lens I would expect to have myself.’
Location becoming less important
With remote edging technologies and faster transport capabilities, most practices say that the location of lab is becoming less important, especially in a continental market.
John says: ‘Location is not an inhibiting factor as at my practice we use remote edging technologies to digitally transfer lens shape and data anywhere in Europe’.
For Anthony, both Hoya and Nikon ‘offer excellent online ordering with remote edging and a full glazing option for more complex jobs’.
‘The location means little as long as delivery times are good providing the lab is in the UK,’ says Anthony. ‘Quality of product and service is paramount.’
‘Nikon are UK based and independent only, which we like. We find remote edging fast, accurate and efficient and have been doing this for more than 10 years. Both companies are also very quick to deal with any problems which means we can offer our clients the best service,’ she adds.
Originally Oppedal was getting his lenses sent over from Denmark, ‘which would usually take around a week’.
‘When we turned into an independent, we wanted a smooth transition,’ he recalls. ‘We had already been using Leicester Optical for some things, so we kept with it,’ he recalls. ‘Now deliveries are much quicker.’
Oppedal uses a ‘balance of both remote edging and traditional edging’, where he sends off a frame to be fitted with lenses at the lab. ‘Remote edging saves a couple of days in terms of delivery times, but our main concern is the quality of the lens and service,’ says Oppedal.
‘Location is less important nowadays because you can get an organised service from any area of the UK.’