On Monday the 26th of March our practice was closed for team training, so we thought we would show you what we got up to.

We were lucky enough to have a private tour of our spectacle lens manufacturer’s (Hoya) factory in Wrexham. The team learnt a lot about what goes into making spectacle lenses and also about all the different process’ involved.

We have been a client of Hoya Lens UK now for two years and it was brilliant to finally see all the steps that go into making their brilliant lens designs. Our tour guide Lee was brilliant and a wealth of knowledge which meant all our questions were answered.

One part which was rather amusing was having to ‘gown up’ to enter the clean room, we all had a good giggle about donning the special gowns and hair nets.

During our visit we also got to find out more about Hoya’s latest project, 3D printed glasses. They call it Yuniku, and what happens is when someone comes in to pick a pair of glasses they can choose the style of frame they want, then using a special machine their face is scanned and it takes measurements of their face, then the style of glasses they pick is then 3D printed to their exact measurements, what this means is everybody can get the frame they like because you wont need to worry about it fitting properly. The team found the machine fascinating.  Yuniku is still in it’s early stages yet so it’s a bit early to offer it in the practice for now, but keep your eyes peeled for the future.

Our Hoya reps Paul and Scott demonstrated the machine, and were ever helpful answering all our questions. Overall the team really learnt a lot and it was nice to spend the day out of the practice experiencing something new and learning a lot. Now we will be able to pass more information down to our patients when it comes to them choosing their spectacle lenses from us.