L A B I N N O V A T O R O F 2 0 1 2
US OPTICAL, LLC
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 1 11/21/12 11:25 AM
25 E - S P
F
EYE-SUN PROTE
CTIO
N F
AC
TOR
™
SO CLEARSO SAFE
SCRATCHES WATERGLARE SMUDGES DUST
Untitled-2 1 10/23/12 11:10 AM
november 2012 A3totallyoptical.com
Repeat Performance
FOR THREE well-educated
individuals, graduates from Syracuse
University (Go Big Orange!), and all
with business successes outside of the
optical industry, the Cotran brothers,
Ralph, Ronald, and Robert, seemed to
show poor business judgment when
they bought an almost failed business,
Onondaga Optical, in 1986. The
equipment at the lab in East Syracuse,
NY, was outdated and not well
maintained and the core business was
down to 80 jobs a day.
They changed the name to Optogen-
ics and subsequently built one of the
larger, more successful, uncut busi-
nesses competing with the best that
New York and Florida had to offer.
By the time the Cotran brothers sold
Optogenics to Essilor of America, Inc.
in 1999, the lab was shipping over
1,500 jobs a day. Not bad for an
economist and a couple of engineers.
They stayed on at Optogenics
(working for Essilor) until 2007 when
they decided to re-enter the optical
industry as owners once again. The
Cotran brothers opened US Optical,
LLC on March 3, 2008 and this time it
only took them four years to grow an
entirely different business model to
1,500 jobs a day.
The ophthalmic wholesale laboratory
business is contracting, and yet the
brothers have bucked the trend. They
have validated the classic entrepreneur-
ial enterprise model by taking risks and
using good ideas with excellent
execution to build a successful
business. Ralph, Ronald, and Robert
are even expanding the lab by another
7,500 sq. ft. because demand is so high
for their products. And they are adding
a fourth free-form line and opening a
new Crizal® Center in March 2013.
Rather than copy their previous uncut
model, they studied the industry and
opened a highly automated, multi-axis,
free-form laboratory featuring MEI
System multi-axis machinery for
finishing, plus in-house anti-reflective
(AR) treatments. Now “old” edging and
surfacing technology is only used for
special jobs with CNC (Computer
Numeric Control) equipment for even
spheres, cylinders, and regular shapes.
The Cotrans maintained an aggres-
sive direct mail plan they had previously
used but also added dedicated marketing
representatives in targeted geographical
areas. They have turned their dedication
to value pricing, high quality, and being
the “Fastest Lab in America™” with
24-hour turnaround on all free-form—
even with AR!
Doing it all over again can be a good
business model and more than enough
to justify our recognition of US Optical
as Lab Innovator of 2012.
Jim Grootegoed is Professional Editor
of Optical Lab Products.
INTRODUCTION LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 3 11/21/12 11:25 AM
A4 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
A Brotherly Bond
BY CAROL GILHAWLEY
The three Cotran brothers have been in business together for the past 26 years. US Optical is their second lab and demand for free-form is so high that they’re extending their premises in upstate New York.
THE COTRAN brothers
have had interesting careers.
Born to a United Nations
diplomat father and an Italian
mother, they spent their
childhood overseas in countries
like Italy, Switzerland, Greece,
Somalia, Laos, Japan, and the
Middle East. As a result, they
are multilingual. Ralph is the
oldest, Ronald is two years
younger, and Robert is three
years younger than Ron.
Two of the brothers, Ron, an
industrial engineer and vice president,
and Robert, president, who has a civil
engineering degree with an MBA,
began in the laboratory business in 1986.
Prior to buying a lab, Robert had been
working for Caesar’s World in interna-
tional marketing and Ron had been with
Carrier Air Conditioning internationally.
They bought a nearly bankrupt lab,
Onondaga Optical, in 1986. They saw
the lab on Tuesday and bought it on
Thursday. “Our dad wanted us to have
our own family business,” Ron said.
“Unfortunately he died of lung cancer
six months after we bought it.”
CHANGED THE NAMEOnondaga was doing about 80
prescriptions a day. “All their
equipment was broken and we bought
it knowing nothing of the optical
industry,” Ron said. They changed the
name to Optogenics, after a racehorse.
Robert enjoys horse racing and over
the years has owned several horses.
In 1999, when Optogenics was doing
about 1,500 jobs a day, they sold
the lab to Essilor of America,
Inc. “They offered us a good
opportunity and I would say that
the timing was right,” said Ralph.
“We saw Essilor as the best partner
because we didn’t have the Varilux®
brand. And Varilux was king. So, it got
us into Varilux and into some new
technologies they were developing.”
Even though Essilor bought
Optogenics, the Cotrans still ran the lab.
They were totally autonomous for eight
years and reported directly to Essilor’s
CEO. “We were the only lab that
reported to the CEO. They kept us
separate because of the way we were
doing things and our own unique
business model. They were testing some
special projects at our lab, so they wanted
us to be separate,” Ralph explained.
US OPTICAL WAS BORNRalph always owned a piece of
Clockwise from top: Ralph Cotran with their mother Lola Cotran before the lab opened. Robert Cotran oversees construction of US Optical before its launch in March 2008. Ron Cotran stands in front of their first free-form line. The lab is now adding its fourth free-form line. Robert, Ron, and Ralph Cotran after the floor had been put in US Optical, their new lab, in 2008.
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 HISTORY
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 4 11/21/12 11:25 AM
HOYA congratulates US Opticalfor being named
is now Available In-House at US Optical.
Lab Innovator of 2012Lab Innovator of 2012
800.423.2361
Hoya_Innovator2012.indd 1 10/23/12 11:12 AM
A6 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
Optogenics even though he did not
actively work in it until his brothers
brought him back east. He has an
undergraduate degree in economics and
an MBA in finance and marketing from
Syracuse University. For years he had a
job in Los Angeles working in the
international insurance brokerage
business running an international
division on the west coast. He joined
Optogenics in 1998. The three Cotrans
worked for Essilor until 2007. Then,
they attended Satisloh of America’s
SLUGfest where they saw free-form in
action and decided it was time to set up
their own free-form lab.
They bought a building, gutted it,
and renovated it. Together, they opened
US Optical LLC, one of the first
free-form labs in the country, in East
Syracuse, NY, on March 3, 2008. On
day one, they had one free-form line,
one edger, four employees, and they
did four jobs. They thought they would
eventually produce 500 eyeglasses a
day. From March 1, 2008 to 2009 their
business grew by 150%; from 2009 to
2010, by 50%; from 2010 to 2011, by
40%; and from 2011 to 2012, by 25%.
Now they do about 1,500 pairs a day
and have over a thousand customers.
“We were one of the first labs to
launch free-form and because we offered
a turnaround in 24 hours, there was a lot
of interest,” Robert said. “We did a lot of
marketing and we tried to accumulate as
many diverse products as possible to give
eyecare professionals (ECPs) choices.”
FAST TURNAROUNDUS Optical offers a 24-hour turnaround
on uncuts and three to five days on
complete edged jobs. The uncut order
needs to come in by 1pm EST to be
back the next day. “A lot of high-end
stores in the United States like to use us
for four reasons: our free-form
technology, quality, speed, and for the
brand names that we have,” Ralph said.
The ratio of uncut to finished work is
60% to 40% and the finish work is
growing. They have a lot of experience
with Carl Zeiss Vision Inc.’s anti-
reflective (AR) coatings with four Zeiss
machines. About 80% of the orders
request AR. The lab is being expanded
this Thanksgiving from 12,000 sq. ft. to
19,500 sq. ft. at a cost of $2.5 million.
Demand led to the expansion and with
it, US Optical is adding another
free-form line from Satisloh North
America, another MEI System edger,
more surfacing lines, and more Crizal®
AR coatings. A new Crizal Center will
be operational by March 2013.
“This time around we’re working
with really high-end products,
free-form, and AR,” Ron said. “The
equipment here is different from our
other lab and we also know the
business a lot better after 20 years.”
DIFFERENT ROLESThe three brothers work together doing
different things. Ralph does all the mar-
keting and sales. Robert is in charge of
customer service and accounting. Ron
is responsible for IT and lab manufac-
turing in addition to AR.
“High-end glasses are where our
growth is,” Ron said. This includes
frames with AR coating and Transi-
tions® free-form lenses. The lab also
does a lot of polarized and specialty
wraps. It offers five brands of propri-
etary lenses too. “We have one of the
largest supermarkets of free-form in the
country,” Ron said. “We have all
brands and every lens in stock.”
Every product has a barcode in order
to track it. About 99% of their custom-
ers are ECPs with 1% coming from other
labs. ECPs can check their accounts on
the lab’s Web site at USOptical.com.
Orders come in by mail, phone, fax, and
online. About 35% of orders come
through the Web site and that portion of
the business is growing. The brothers
say their turnaround is still the fastest in
the country. “We get the jobs out,”
Robert said. “That’s our business model
and it’s embedded in our employees.
We have the technology and procedural
systems in place to do it. It’s not an
argument anymore that we’re the fastest
lab in America.”
STEADY STAFFAs the fourth-largest, independently
owned, wholesale optical laboratory in
the United States, US Optical has a
staff of 86, some of whom have worked
with the Cotrans for at least 15 years,
others for longer. Five people in the
customer service department answer the
phones full-time and aim to always pick
up a call within three rings. The lines to
the toll-free number 800-4GLASSES
operate from 9am to 7pm.
US Optical often recruits staff through
people already working at the lab. They
also get staff from the Catholic Chari-
ties’ Refugee Program which is a joint
initiative between the Catholic Church
and the City of Syracuse.
US Optical is still very much a
family business. Their mother, Lola,
aged 82, still comes into the lab to help
out. Ron is the only one of the brothers
who is married with children. His wife
Rola works three days a week in the
marketing department. In addition to
working at least 12 hours a day and
weekends the three brothers only live a
few miles away from the lab and from
each other.
Carol Gilhawley is Editor-in-Chief
of OLP.
US Optical’s new 7,500 sq. ft extension will open around Thanksgiving this
year. The new Crizal Center will be in operation by
March 2013.
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 HISTORY
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 6 11/21/12 11:25 AM
Congratulations to
on being namedLab Innovator of 2012
Model LGEN-P2-240 Lens Generating Filter LGEN DS1 Pumping Station
We wish continued success to Ralph, Robert & Ron
and the entire team at US Optical
113 Fairgrounds Drive, P. O. Box 527, Manlius, NY 13104-0527Tel: (315) 682-8815; Fax: (315) 682-8825 www.filtertech.com
From your friends at
Industrial Liquid Filtration Systems
Filtertech_Innovator.indd 1 10/25/12 10:44 AM
A8 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
A Fast, Family-Run, Free-Form Lab US Optical is the second lab owned and run by the three Cotran brothers: Ralph, Ronald, and Robert. Since its founding four-and-a-half years ago, it has focused on high-end free-form products, speed, and quality. OLP’s professional editor, Jim Grootegoed, spoke to the three brothers about their business model.
JIM GROOTEGOED Please give us a quick summary of your backgrounds before starting in the lab business.
RON COTRAN I’m an industrial
engineer by training. I graduated from
Syracuse University then worked for
Carrier International. I had my own
business exporting engineering
equipment before we bought Onondaga
Optical in 1986. It was near bankruptcy
doing only about 80 jobs a day. All the
equipment was broken. We bought it
anyway because we didn’t know any
better. We knew nothing about the
optical industry. We changed the name
to Optogenics and developed a
high-value/low-cost uncut business and
built it up to an average of 1,500 jobs a
day. We sold it in 1999 to Essilor of
America, Inc. but continued to work at
the business until 2007. We left and in
2008 opened US Optical. Today we’re
back up to 1,500 jobs a day, except that
this time we’re doing it with really high-
end products: free-form, anti-reflective
(AR) coatings, and finished jobs.
JG Ron, what is your present job?
RON I run manufacturing and IT, but
basically we’re all kind of interchange-
able. We can pretty much step into each
other’s jobs here. But we don’t have to
because we’re always around here
anyway!
JG Robert, what’s your back-ground?
ROBERT COTRAN I’m a civil
engineer and I have an MBA in
marketing and finance. I graduated
from Syracuse University and worked
in international marketing for Caesar’s
World. Caesar’s World is the corporate
umbrella that owns Caesar’s Palace and
MGM Grand and all those other hotels.
Our dad was looking for a business that
was doing badly for all the wrong
reasons. We heard about an optical
company that was going to close. We
saw Onondaga Optical on Tuesday and
Ron and I bought it on a Thursday in
1986. We named it Optogenics after a
racehorse! I’m responsible for finance
and customer service and I can run the
lab as well.
JG What about you, Ralph?
RALPH COTRAN I have an under-
graduate degree in economics and an
MBA in finance and marketing from
Syracuse University. I was in the
international insurance brokerage
business until 1998. I ran the interna-
tional division of some of the largest
insurance brokers on the west coast.
And, though not present, I always
owned a third of Optogenics. In 1998,
Ron and Robert convinced me to move
back to East Syracuse and join the
company. Once we sold it, I stayed on
at Optogenics working for Essilor for
eight additional years.
JG I’m guessing that when you started US Optical you had pretty different business objectives?
RON Well, Optogenics took 20 years
to make it what it was.
JG What did you do differently?
ROBERT Well, for one thing, we now
specialize in high-end products, high-
index lenses, free-form, AR, finish
work. The equipment was different four
years ago, so today there are more
automation possibilities. And we also
know the business a lot better after 20
years. We get the jobs out. That’s our
business model and it’s embedded in
our employees. We have the technol-
ogy and procedural systems in place to
do it. It’s not an argument anymore that
we’re the fastest lab in America.
JG What you’ve done is taken
the new technology and experi-ence and wrapped it around your new business plan.
RALPH That is correct. And we’ve
also changed the way we get new
business. In the old lab, we really didn’t
have a sales force. We only had one
salesperson in Florida. With US
Optical, we hit the ground running. We
said we’re going to do what we do best.
We did direct response marketing,
along with having competent opticians
and experienced salespeople in key
states who fit well with what we
produce. We offer high-end free-form
with overnight service.
RON Difficult-to-edge frames…
RALPH Difficult jobs, wrap technol-
ogy—so we try and match it up with
large population areas where they have
the same needs and where we can
fulfill those needs.
JG So does that mean you’re going primarily urban?
RALPH We’re targeting states that
have a large population where we
believe we can grow our business. I’ll
give you an example. Arizona is not a
strong state for us because it’s primarily
VSP Optics Group. Every time I open
an account in Arizona, the first two
questions are: “Do you have Varilux®
and do you have VSP?” and I say, no
and no, and that pretty much ends the
conversation. Sometimes, however,
they are open to our branded free-form
products and 24 hour turnaround as an
alternative if Varilux is the only
“The Cotran brothers have huge hearts and are generous with their expertise,” —Jay Sagor,
lab manager.
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 Q&As WITH THE COTRANS
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 8 11/21/12 11:25 AM
november 2012 A9totallyoptical.com
concern. VSP is a tougher nut to crack
at this juncture. So that’s how we look
at our business. Take California, it’s a
big state for us. Even though it’s VSP,
there’s still a huge non-VSP population
in a very healthy market.
JG You guys seem to be doing it all.
ROBERT We do seven things that we
think make us different.
RALPH 1. We do speed—24 hours
on uncuts, three to five working days
on complete jobs. 2. We’re an
independent, family-owned business,
so we really care about the independent
eyecare professional (ECP). We like to
cater to the small mom-and-pop
operations, even in the large urban
areas, because they’re like us. They’re
independent and we care. 3. We’ve got
more choices than anybody else on
free-form. We’ve just signed a HOYA
VISION CARE, North America
contract and their free-form lenses are
now available. Essilor is going to give
us their DEFINITY™ progressive lenses
to process here as well as their digital
non-Varilux design.
We also just signed a Crizal®
contract with Essilor. Our goal is to
become like Macy’s—to give the ECP,
and ultimately the consumer, choices,
and that’s what I think we’ve tried to
achieve, and that’s another one of the
benefits. 4. We’re easy to work with.
You have a problem, we can take care
of it. 5. We’ve got the best edgers in
the world and we specialize in difficult
shapes, drill mounts, wraps, and
sunglass frames. 6. We have net
competitive—but fair—pricing. It’s
important that it’s a win-win for both
parties. We don’t inflate our pricing
and then tell you we’re going to give
you a 40% discount. We don’t do that
because our pricing is already fair. And
then we believe that, coupled with all
the other benefits, our products have a
value over any other lab because of the
way we can get stuff to you quickly.
Speed is imperative nowadays,
especially in tourist areas. 7. And lastly,
we’re going to always be at the
cutting-edge of new technologies. For
example, we were the first to launch
PixelOptics Inc.’s electronic eyeglasses.
JG Unfortunately, now on hold. Our industry needs exciting new technology like Pixel’s.
satisloh.com | 800.866.5640
To US Optical for being named “Lab Innovator of 2012.”
congratulations.
“We try to provide exceptional customer service with speedy and accurate informa-tion,” —Patty Magyar,
customer service phone
room manager.
Q&As WITH THE COTRANS LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 9 11/21/12 11:25 AM
A10 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
know, it’s very
complicated to
produce these
lenses. It’s not
turn-key.
RALPH I definitely
believe electronics
are here to stay. So
we’re always
involved in cutting
edge, you know,
Vantage™ from
Transitions Optical
Inc., Safilo USA’s
Carrera’s X-cede,
Sun Rx Program,
PhotoFusion by
Carl Zeiss Vision, Inc., so ECPs will
also benefit because we’re always
looking for the next new thing. These
are the seven ways we really try to
differentiate ourselves and incorporate
them into our marketing.
RON And we’re spending a lot of
money now on an addition to our
building as well as new equipment. By
January 2013, everything should be
installed and running. We’re getting an
additional free-form line. We’ve just
bought another edger. We’re getting a
whole Crizal center.
JG What is your geographic reach?
RALPH Primarily east coast, west
coast, and southeast.
JG And how many salesfolks do you have?
RALPH Eight. We’ve got upstate New
York, New York City metropolitan
area, northeast New England, North
and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia,
and California.
JG That leaves our whole great Midwest.
RALPH We haven’t started there yet.
JG Do you do business-to-busi-ness work with other labs?
RALPH Yes, we are very lab friendly.
Some labs use us because we’re faster
than their own processing systems.
And a lot of labs use us because they
don’t have the technology that we
have. Once you start using this
high-tech equipment, there are things
Congratulations!To US Optical for being named “Lab Innovator 2012”
RON The next generation is coming
out soon. Pixel has refined their labs so
that they can produce the glasses. You
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 Q&As WITH THE COTRANS
Nina Pollic, Otto Calabria, and Jody Evans, Quality Control and Finishing Department Experts.
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 10 11/21/12 11:25 AM
november 2012 A11totallyoptical.com
you can do that other people can’t.
For example, we do a digital slab-off.
RON That was invented by Jay Sagor,
our lab manager.
RALPH These are like side products
that come out of the technology. He can
do it in one day where it used to take a
week.
JG What is your percentage of finished and uncut?
RON Our finish keeps growing. Right
now it’s about 40% plus, and uncuts is
still around 60%, but definitely the
finished work is growing.
JG How about AR?
RON Because we have AR in-house,
people have a tendency to order from
us. So we have 70%-80% AR. Same
turnaround, 24 hours on uncuts with AR.
JG What is free-form as a percentage of progressive addition lenses (PALs)?
RALPH As a percentage of the whole
business, it’s about 35% to 40%, but
as a percentage of PALs it’s 60%
to 70%.
JG That’s a good business model: PALs, free-form, and AR.
RON Yes. That’s what we were telling
you at the beginning—we specialize in
the high-end.
RALPH A lot of high-end stores in the
United States like to use us for four
reasons: free-form technology, quality,
speed, and the brands that we have.
They like brand names.
JG Do you do any in-house marketing for your customers in support of your private label?
RALPH Oh, we have done some. If
somebody needs a private label lens,
we can create one and give them the
flyers, but we’re not going to pay for
the marketing.
JG Will you use the lens manu-facturers’ marketing programs?
RALPH Yes.
JG You promote your 24-hour turnaround. Have you ever missed a deadline?
RALPH Here’s how it works. Order by
1pm eastern time, let us know you need
the uncut job tomorrow, and we will
give it to you tomorrow. If it doesn’t
make it out through quality control,
we’ll call you by 9pm and let you
know. If it gets rejected, we’ll call and
leave a message.
Carl Zeiss Vision congratulates US Optical, on being named Lab Innovator of the Year.
Continued success to Ralph, Ronald, Robert and the entire company.
CZV_LabInnovator2012.indd 1 10/18/12 2:31 PM
CongratulationsU.S. Optical
Lab Innovator of 2012
www.LookToPSI.com
Wishing you continued successfrom our team to yours!
“Our turnaround is still the fastest in the country,” —Brian
Whitford, customer
service supervisor.
Q&As WITH THE COTRANS LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 11 11/21/12 11:25 AM
A12 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
RON Even if we have to run it three
times, it’s going to make it.
JG Well, it’s probably more of an inventory issue than any-thing else.
RON But if it’s free-form, it’s less
of an inventory problem as we just
stock the semi-finished single vision
lens blanks.
RALPH That’s another thing about
our inventory. We try to stay very,
very deep in inventory because of
the business model.
JG Is there anything else about your business model that you’d like to mention?
ROBERT The most important thing
about our business model is that we are
here for our customers. We exist for them.
JG Tell me about your employees.
RON Well, we’ve only been in
business for four years, but the majority
of our employees have worked for us
for at least 15 years, some since 1986.
We currently have 86 staff in total.
JG Former employees heard about you and applied?
RON Yes. They came to us over the
years. And, they’re all extremely
experienced and knowledgeable. Our
customer service people are absolutely
the best—conscientious and experienced.
JG Are there any marketing materials you use, like direct mail?
RON We do a bunch of direct mail.
Also, our Web site is usoptical.com.
Simply click on “Lab Tour” to learn
about us. Your readers have probably
seen all this before but they might be
interested in seeing our lab.
JG For AR, do you have anything other than Zeiss?
RON We will have a new Crizal Center
in operation by March 2013. And,
we’re adding 7,500 sq. ft. to the back
of our building.
JG And that would be primarily for the Crizal coating?
RON It’s not only coating because we
also ordered another free-form line.
JG So you have three free-form lines now?
RON And we’ll soon have four.
We’re trying to not run any jobs on
the conventional line because of the
superior quality from the free-form
lines. Unfortunately, because of volume
variations you can’t always do that. So
we’ll run some single vision on the
regular line. We do have an advantage
in that all our equipment is relatively
new; we don’t have older technology
that we have to use.
JG Who are you going with for your new free-form line?
RON Satisloh.
JG I would think from a mainte-nance standpoint that you would tend to go with one supplier.
RON That certainly makes sense but
I think there’s going to be a second
generation of free-form products coming
out that’s going to be even better.
JG How can it get any better?
RON It’ll be easier to make and more
accurate. You’ll have better materials.
We’re at 1.74 now, right? You know,
there may be a 2.0 index on the way.
JG Anything else you guys want
SEIKO Optical Congratulates US Optical
on winning Lab Innovator 2012
CREATING THE BEST VISIONSEIKO Optical Products of America, Inc.
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 Q&As WITH THE COTRANS
CONGRATULATIONS TO US OPTICALON BEING NAMED LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
CONTINUED SUCCESS FROMYOUR FRIENDS AT ULTRA OPTICS
Ultra_LabInnovator2012.indd 1 10/23/12 11:57 AM
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 12 11/21/12 11:25 AM
november 2012 A13totallyoptical.com
to say?
RON Yes. We have five proprietary
products which are US Optical-de-
signed free-form lenses. The Ultimate
HD which will compete with the best
out there and is available in a PAL,
single vision, and a D25. Then we also
have an even more advanced free-form,
the Advanced HD, which is pretty
advanced too with a larger reading area
than the Ultimate HD. We have a Wrap
HD PAL design and two single vision
products. So those are the five
bread-and-butter free-form products
that we have that are proprietary in
addition to all the brands.
JG Anything else you promote?
RALPH Yes. We have Shamir Insight,
Inc.’s Autograph II Office™. Then, of
course, we do HOYA’s Hoyalux Tact.
We also have the Access, the Gradal
RD, and the Business from Zeiss. The
occupational lenses are a wonderful
technology but only a small part of our
business.
JG I know. It should be larger.
RON Right. You know what’s a really
big part of our business? The wraps—
Oakley, Inc., Rudy Project, North
America, and others.
RALPH As far as ECPs go we try to
do seminars in conjunction with the
manufacturers to inform them of the
new products that come in. For
example, all over the country now
we’re doing Transitions® Vantage™
seminars. We’ve done them in upstate
New York and Massachusetts. We’re
doing them in North and South
Carolina and California. So we try to
join forces with the suppliers to
promote new technology. We’ve also
done some joint seminars with Shamir.
Wherever there’s new technologies and
great products that the American
consumer can benefit from, we try and
bring it to the ECPs in conjunction with
the manufacturers.
JG Will you do mail promotions on that too?
RALPH Yes, we do a ton of mail
promotions. We’re into technology.
That’s what we sell—technology and
speed. We’re the “Fastest Lab in
America™!”
for being recognized as Lab Innovator of 2012!
Kodak and the Kodak trade dress are trademarks of Kodak, used under license by Signet Armorlite, Inc. ©2012 Signet Armorlite, Inc.
“Everything has a barcode to track it,” —Indira Halilovic, inventory
manager.
Q&As WITH THE COTRANS LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 13 11/21/12 11:25 AM
A14 november 2012 totallyoptical.com
New Equipment All the Way
BY CAROL GILHAWLEY
US Optical will soon run four lines of free-form. The Cotrans bought all new equipment when they opened the lab’s doors four-and-a-half years ago. Now, with the lab’s nearly completed extension, they are adding new machines to include more Crizal AR coating, a new edger, and more surfacing lines.
SINCE US OPTICAL is
only four years old, all its equipment is
brand new. In Optogenics, the old lab
that they previously owned and
subsequently sold to Essilor of
America, Inc., the Cotran brothers
specialized and pushed mostly uncuts.
With US Optical they’ve taken the
position that the optical industry is
moving toward more edging and
free-form lines. The first and second
lines they bought were from Satisloh.
The third line was from Schneider
Optical Machines Inc., and the fourth
line they will install in December is
also from Satisloh.
“We wanted machines from both
companies so that we could have
experience with both, but I think they
pretty much all do the same thing,” said
Ron. “Some of the jobs we can’t run on
Schneider and some of the jobs you
can’t run on Satisloh and some of the
jobs you can’t run on either—you have
to run it on a conventional machine,
such as the very high plus powers and
small B measurements.”
Now, US Optical has two Bisphera-
XDD MEI automatic edgers which,
according to Ron, “are the most
expensive, finest edgers in the world.
Because, interestingly, once you get an
MEI, you don’t want another edger.
You don’t want a different type of edger
complete jobs on behalf of labs and so
they are investing in quality and
technology.
Ron, Ralph, and Robert were always
up on technology. They went to one of
Satisloh North America’s SLUGfests
where they saw this new digital
technology called free-form and
decided to open their own free-form
lab. Soon, they will operate four
because you get spoiled.”
The lab’s staff is highly trained in the
most complicated, drill mount edging
processes. US Optical sent Ron
LaCross, an MEI edger specialist in the
Finishing Department, and two other
finishing department specialists to the
MEI School in Chicago to learn how to
operate and calibrate the two MEI edgers.
They received certifications. “We needed
a second MEI machine because we had so
much work,” LaCross said. The second
MEI edger came in July 2012.
US Optical has invested in free-form
technology. The lab is being expanded
this Thanksgiving from 12,000 sq. ft. to
19,500 sq. ft. at a cost of $2.5 million.
Demand led to the expansion and with
it, US Optical is adding a fourth
free-form line, more surfacing lines,
and more anti-reflective (AR) coating.
A new Crizal® Center will be opera-
tional by March 2013.
“This time around we’re working
Ron LaCross, MEI edger specialist in the Finishing
Department, stands in front of one of US Optical’s
two MEI Edgers.
LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012 TECHNOLOGY
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 14 11/21/12 11:25 AM
with really high-end products,
coatings,” Ron said. “The equipment
here is different from our other lab and
we also know the business a lot better
after 20 years.”
When they owned Optogenics,
free-form lenses didn’t exist. “So even
if it’s not a free-form lens, the
free-form equipment will make the lens
a lot more accurate just to begin with,
in controlling thicknesses, edging
thicknesses, powers, everything is just
more accurate,” said Ron. He runs the
lab and programs all the software used
by US Optical.
Finish work is not new to the Cotrans
but the modern machinery makes it
much easier. For example, they use the
A&R Optical Machinery Inc. automat-
ed inspection and blocking system for
their finish work. Their lab manage-
Who Supports More LMS’s Than Any Other Provider?
1-800-708-1736
Congratulations to US Optical, Fastest Lab in America™
CCAD5 (shadow).indd 1 10/25/12 10:46 AM
november 2012 A15totallyoptical.com
ment software is run by CC Systems.
They use everybody’s free-form
software. They began with Seiko
Optical Products of America, Inc.
followed by Shamir Insight, Inc. The
third software was from Carl Zeiss
Vision, Inc. They also have HOYA
VISION CARE, North America, and
will be getting DEFINITY™ and some
non-branded digital lenses from Essilor
of America, Inc.
In addition, they have a “house”
non-branded software with three
designs. “So we’ve got a nice mix,”
said Ralph. “And then we also have
produced lenses that can’t be copied, so
these private label companies produce
stuff that is only for US Optical.”
Carol Gilhawley is Editor-in-Chief
of OLP.
US OPTICAL’S LAB EQUIPMENT
1 National Optronics 5T Frame Tracer
1 National Optronics 7T Frame Tracer
2 PSI Lens Tape Machines
3 Satisloh PRA Blockers
1 NCR Tray Stacker
2 Simplimatic Tray Stackers
2 Satisloh VFT Ultra Generators
1 Schneider HSC smart Xp Generator
1 Coburn DTL Generator
8 Satisloh Auto-Flex soft pad Polishers
2 Schneider CCP-103 dual head Polishers
3 Coburn CMX-50 Finers
8 Coburn CMX- 50 Polishers
1 A&R Rob Control Unit
1 Satisloh ALC Robotic Lens Engraver
1 LaserOp Ltd. Lensmark Manual Lens
Engraver
2 Teco TP2 V90-302 lens stamp machines
2 Bisphera-XDD MEI automatic edgers
2 National Optronics HLP edgers
1 Satisloh ES3 edger
2 BPI Tinting units
2 BPI Safety Vent Hoods
1 Satisloh Magna-Spin 2SV backcoater
2 Ultraoptics MR-3 backcoaters
1 Interlab Wash Unit
3 ZEISS B-12 AR coating machines
1 ZEISS A-20 AR coating machine
2 ZEISS DAS-1 Hydrophobic coating units
2 ZEISS C10S Hydrophobic coating units
TECHNOLOGY LAB INNOVATOR OF 2012
OLP.NOV2012_AF.indd 15 11/21/12 11:25 AM
CongratulationsOptical Lab Products
is proud to honor US Optical.
Best wishes forcontinued success
to Ralph, Ronald, Robert and the entire company.
LabInnovator_salutations.qxp:Layout 1 11/8/11 12:55 PM Page 7