Essilor: Lenses and Tools to Grow your Practice
By Paddy Kamen

An exclusive interview with Gérard Malledant, President of Essilor Canada Ltd.

In the last few years we have heard a lot about digital surfacing and new lens designs. All things considered, what makes one lens better than another?

First, let’s establish that digital surfacing is a process, not a design. Within this process there are levels of precision: the more precise the tools, the greater the possibilities. Essilor has developed its own tools, including a patented soft polishing tool that preserves the integrity of the design. Then there’s the design. A regular design applied with digital technology will give regular results. However, the very complex designs created with Essilor’s Dual Side Calculation, applied with our own methods of digital surfacing, can reduce aberration and enhance lens performance. We created a whole new approach to both lens design and manufacturing, called Dual Digital Vision or DDV, to get these results. What makes a lens better is the combination of a great design with the appropriate technology.

Many of the new lenses promise HD vision. How is that possible?

The new lens optimization factors such as ametropia, cylinder, frame shape and wearing parameters undoubtedly all contribute to provide better vision by eliminating the lower order aberrations present in all lenses. But Essilor’s unique W.A.V.E. Technology™ goes further by reducing or eliminating higher order aberrations, thus increasing visual contrast by at least 30 per cent. That is what we call High Resolution Vision™.

How can these new technologies help eye care professionals grow their business?

Because of the new technologies, lenses carry different levels and different types of optimization, which makes it possible to answer the needs of every customer, even the most demanding. And a satisfied customer will not only return to his eyecare professional but will also recommend that person to his family and friends. Here it is important to note that even though the most advanced lenses can be fairly expensive, technology is available at all price points.

In addition, the technological aspect of the lenses, including coatings, gives the eye care professional an opportunity to communicate more fully with customers. By taking the time to get to know the customers and present them with a number of options, the eye care professional strengthens the bond with them. And that makes it easier to explain the benefits of multiple pairs of eyeglasses: one general purpose pair, an outdoor pair for protection against UV and blue light, and another pair for working at the computer, for example, increasing the opportunity for multiple sales.

Some of the new lenses require extra measurements to be taken. Isn’t that complicated and time consuming?

Taking extra measurements may require a few more minutes but it is a great investment, for it is perceived by the customer as extra care and showcases the eye care professional’s expertise. Also, the more advanced the lens is, the more important it is that the measurements be taken with great precision so that the wearer can enjoy the full benefits of the design. As a matter of fact, a mistake in lens centering can have a direct impact on the width of the field of vision. For example, for an addition of 2.00 dioptres, a mistake of 2 mm in horizontal centering diminishes the width of the near vision field by 40 per cent.

That is why Essilor developed Visioffice, a new multi-tasking tool that assists with measurement taking the sales process and frame selection. The eye care professional can obtain, in about 20 seconds, all the parameters required for all lenses, from standard to the most advanced, such as Varilux Physio f-360º and Varilux Ipseo New Edition.

With so many manufacturers crowding the lens market, why would a practitioner want to consider using Essilor lenses?

I would say that they might want to benefit from the best designs and technologies, the widest range of products and coatings, great service, product training and marketing support, all from one source. Each year, five per cent of Essilor sales are reinvested in research and development in ophthalmic optics, so we never stop improving the designs and coatings of our lenses. That’s why we are proud to say that our Varilux and Crizal brands are the standard for high-performing products in the Canadian market.

Eye care professionals throughout Canada can count on the quality of our products and on all our teams (over 1,000 employees), starting with our customer service team of 200 trained staff and 45 sales representatives with advanced technical expertise. Our network of 40 local, full-service optical laboratories provides quick and efficient service. A global investment of seven million dollars (CDN) per year over the last three years gave us the ability to build three high-tech centers with digital surfacing capacity. We are also very proud of our four Canadian coating facilities which provide the most advanced products.

I would also like to point out that ophthalmic optics are Essilor’s only business. This is where all our resources, whether financial or human, are focused, and that’s why we can lead the way in product development.

When Varilux® was invented, 50 years ago, it revolutionized the world of ophthalmic optics. The philosophy behind this accomplishment is still the driving force for everything we do.