DR LEE GOES TO VENICE, ITALY

VSP, the nation’s largest vision insurance company, asked me and two other optometrists from the US to join 3 VSP staff and visit their Marchon frame manufacturing plant in northern Italy.  We were asked to observe the production facility, interact with the employees, meet with the plant managers and report our observations and opinions back to VSP.  Marchon is the third largest frame supplier in the world and many of the frames we use in our office are made by Marchon, either in Italy or in China.

I was extremely impressed by both the modern technology and the hand-craftmanship that goes into making high-quality frames.   Italy is known for producing the world’s best-quality frames and every major frame supplier has a factory in northern Italy.  In talking with several of the employees, all of whom speak excellent English, I was interested to learn that many of their families have worked in the frame-manufacturing industry for generations.  They take great pride in the products they produce and they work hard to become artisans in their craft.

The Marchon plant has 175 employees who utilize the latest technology in concert with their artistic skill to produce 10,000 frames per day.  Their rigorous quality-control mechanism s result in a ‘failure rate’ of 0.02%, which is ten-times better than the industry standards.  Marchon Italy has found the key to combining efficient production with high quality and stylish good looks.

Most of us can never afford a hand-crafted Italian car such as a Lamberghini or a Ferrari.   But most of us can afford a hand-crafted Italian frame.  I invite you to come into our dispensary and see the beauty and quality of Italian frames such as Fendi and Michael Kors in either prescription frames or fashion sunglasses.

I am hopeful that next year, they will ask me to visit their contract-lab in China where I can compare the two distinctly different methods of frame manufacture.

Randy Lee, O.D.