# Optical Forums > Optical and Ophthalmic Equipment >  Costs of Free Form Surfacing and premium AR coating labs

## Green Optic

Hello.

I am an optician from Israel.
I am doing a project of making cheap high quality (yet profitable) eyeglasses to customers, many of whom cannot afford quality glasses. 
I am running a profit simulation for different sorts of activities in this area (importing large amounts of good but cheap frames from china, running my own finishing lab, having a lens stock....). 
I want to know how much would a small FreeForm surfacing and SRAR coating lab could cost. I looked through two options which seem to fit the best, Chemalux and Satisloh.... I'd like to know the aproximate investment in a lab producing 30-50 rx lenses a day. 

Thanks a lot.
Best regards,
Eli.

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## Don Gilman

> Hello.
> 
> I am an optician from Israel.
> I am doing a project of making cheap high quality (yet profitable) eyeglasses to customers, many of whom cannot afford quality glasses. 
> I am running a profit simulation for different sorts of activities in this area (importing large amounts of good but cheap frames from china, running my own finishing lab, having a lens stock....). 
> I want to know how much would a small FreeForm surfacing and SRAR coating lab could cost. I looked through two options which seem to fit the best, Chemalux and Satisloh.... I'd like to know the aproximate investment in a lab producing 30-50 rx lenses a day. 
> 
> Thanks a lot.
> Best regards,
> Eli.


Not to nit pick but I take issue with your statement "many of whom can't afford quality glasses" Better would be whom can't afford EXPENSIVE GLASSES. 
I believe you will be looking at upward of $500,000 for the systems you mention. I don't want to use this as an advertisment but I suggest you visit our web sight www.superoptical.com or e-mail me don@superoptical.com for an alternative inexpensive solution for your 30 to 50 rx lenses per day.

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## Green Optic

> Not to nit pick but I take issue with your statement "many of whom can't afford quality glasses" Better would be whom can't afford EXPENSIVE GLASSES. 
> I believe you will be looking at upward of $500,000 for the systems you mention. I don't want to use this as an advertisment but I suggest you visit our web sight www.superoptical.com or e-mail me don@superoptical.com for an alternative inexpensive solution for your 30 to 50 rx lenses per day.


Thanks for your offer, but Paying $xxx for a pair of AR progressives is not saving me anything. I can get Shamir Spectrum FF lenses for $xxx within two days, so it is only good if I want to make lenses in an hour. It doesn't save me money. Sorry. If I buy $x blanks and process them it COULD save me money (I just want to know if it is cost effective). In addition, if the machinery is not too expensive I might as well invest in growing and selling lenses to other retail stores. Just want to see if it worth it. 
As for my statement, if a glasses cost the store $xxxto make, they won't sell for less than $xxx, what I want is to cut the costs for the ones who can't afford it, yet, sell the same lens under another name for more for those who can. Right now I can't play that much. 
Thanks for again your offer, I actually may talk to you if I'd like to make a shop making Progressives in an hour. Might be a good idea... might be...

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## lensmanmd

Let’s say you are processing 10000 pair annually.  Your costs will be $50/pr just for the basic equipment.  Add lenses, time, click fees and consumables to that.   Are you really saving money?   Then there are maintenance costs on top of that.   Possibly LMS upgrade costs, too.  Then there are remake costs.  AR remakes dig deep into your profits.  
You would be better off searching for a lab that processes IOT FF, instead of branded designs.  And, that is before AR.   In order to realize savings, you would need to process 150+ Pairs per day.

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## Don Gilman

> Thanks for your offer, but Paying $xxx for a pair of AR progressives is not saving me anything. I can get Shamir Spectrum FF lenses for $xxx within two days, so it is only good if I want to make lenses in an hour. It doesn't save me money. Sorry. If I buy $x blanks and process them it COULD save me money (I just want to know if it is cost effective). In addition, if the machinery is not too expensive I might as well invest in growing and selling lenses to other retail stores. Just want to see if it worth it. 
> As for my statement, if a glasses cost the store $xxxto make, they won't sell for less than $xxx, what I want is to cut the costs for the ones who can't afford it, yet, sell the same lens under another name for more for those who can. Right now I can't play that much. 
> Thanks for again your offer, I actually may talk to you if I'd like to make a shop making Progressives in an hour. Might be a good idea... might be...


Please note the prices on Optiboard have been X out as we don't like pricing on a site that is available to the general public. Please e-mail me and we can discuss our pricing which are considerably less than you posted. don@superoptical.com I can send to your e-mail our complete lens price list.

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