Essilor has invested £500,000 in leading lens edging technology at its Thornbury based Centre of Excellence laboratory.
The company will now offer new Bisphera edging from, Italian equipment manufacturer, MEI. Essilor says the new machine will provide a greater level of accuracy to all pre-edged lenses and a wider service offering in frame dispensing.
Jobs such as high base sun wrap frames will be edged on site for the first time allowing a greater range of products to be offered to customers from the UK site.
The new technology will produce more lenses per hour, with the faster turnaround bringing efficiencies to the lab, opticians and end users by improving promised delivery time.
Randeep Gill, commercial director at Essilor, launched the technology with Thornbury mayor Cllr Helen Harrison on June 5.
Gill said: ‘The equipment will bring more consistency into our edging process in terms of product finish and accuracy. It will also help plug the gap when it comes to purchasing second pair products, in particular sunwear and the increasingly popular sun wrap frames for skiing and cycling.’