SIOUX CITY, Iowa--For Pech Optical, one of the nation’s largest independent wholesale labs, updating and automating its facility here has been an all-encompassing, multi-stage project that is now in its second year.
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| A Satisloh autotaper at work in Pech Optical’s surfacing department.
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| Lab-management software is part of the ‘central nervous system’ at Balester Optical. |
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| A Flexlink conveyor belt moves job trays at Pech Optical. |
“When we decided to do some automation, one of the first things that we determined was to increase the physical size of our facility,” said Doug Pech, the lab’s president. “Then we installed the Satisloh surface room, including a Satisloh autoblocker, VPro Generators, a P@P tool tower for automatic tool picking, Satisloh cylinder machines and a Flexlink conveyor system.” To integrate the new technology, Pech worked closely with Satisloh and lab management software supplier DVI. “At first, we kept our existing surface room functioning,” said Doug Pech. “As we grew more confident with Satisloh surface room switched from the old system to the new system.
“We were able to run two different surfacing systems side by side using two different calculation programs. Also, on our fining machine, via the DVI-Satisloh interface, we could adjust the fining time based on curve and blank diameters.”
Although the automation created new efficiencies, the lab didn’t lay off any of its surface department employees. “We reduced our staff by about 18 people, mainly through attrition, and we moved some good, long-term people from surfacing into the office to handle the increased volume,” said Pech, who added that the lab also upgraded its AR coating and finishing departments.
As important as automation is to the lab’s future, Pech emphasizes that skilled employees still play a crucial role in production.
“The automation system doesn’t do everything,” he noted. “It helps you free up extremely talented people to spend time on specialized jobs, because the robots are kicking out the bulk of the work.” --Andrew Karp
