How laboratories react to these changes and how successfully they integrate these technologies into their operations will spell the difference between their success and failure over the next few years. While some of these changes are revolutionary, many are simply evolutionary. Technology has been a driving force in the lab business for decades, ever since O.W. Coburn rode out of Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1950 with his mechanical pitch blocker in the trunk of his Oldsmobile Rocket 88. But in the past decade, advances in lens designs, materials, and coatings have revolutionized the optical industry. We've seen an unprecedented outpouring of new lens technology and new lens products, many of them premium products that have given new life to our industry.
Products are in a constant state of improvement, and new, better lenses are coming out everyday.
But something else is also going on. We're on the verge of a new wave of technology that's affecting the manufacturing, processing, fabricating and delivery of lens products. These technologies are already improving product performance. For example, they are enabling more complex lens surfaces to be produced, resulting in a more customized product to fit the individual wearer's needs. The new production technologies are also boosting service levels as labs become more accurate and more efficient.