Delays on Glass Lenses

[KrystleClear]

Most of my patient base is older and we have a handful that absolutely insist on glass lenses. I can now only order glass lenses from one of the labs we use, and they outsource them, apparently and I cannot ask them to rush it. We do not have in house edging (no space and no budget as we are a small clinic with low volume for optical). I am used to it taking about 4 weeks to get glass lenses in, but it's been taking FOREVER lately. I have a job that was ordered early November and as of today (1/7/2025) I still haven't received it. The lab claims it is in process and hasn't been forgotten. The one before that took nearly as long. I just had a patient leave without ordering because they wanted their glass lenses made asap and I had to be honest with him and tell him it could take up to two months.

Anyone else experiencing this? Is there a shortage or supply chain issue? I was told years ago there was only one manufacturer in the US supplying ophthalmic lens blanks in glass but I am not sure if that was true. We don't use this particular lab anymore except for glass jobs because there has been a decline in quality and too many errors and flawed lenses. My preferred lab doesn't carry glass at all.

[jiicken]

insofar as i am aware there is only one lab in the united states that is taking the outsourced jobs from all the labs that can "make glass lenses." i have heard tell that zeiss is the best place to go for glass lenses, as they have some decent offerings in glass in the form of better-than-1980s-tech-progressives, but i don't know enough about it to state with confidence that they can beat your lab's several month lead time. it's something to try. if you have success i'd love to hear about it!

[KrystleClear]

insofar as i am aware there is only one lab in the united states that is taking the outsourced jobs from all the labs that can "make glass lenses." i have heard tell that zeiss is the best place to go for glass lenses, as they have some decent offerings in glass in the form of better-than-1980s-tech-progressives, but i don't know enough about it to state with confidence that they can beat your lab's several month lead time. it's something to try. if you have success i'd love to hear about it!

I will pass that info on. I do not have the power to open new accounts but that could be helpful.

[Uilleann]

I just had a patient leave without ordering because they wanted their glass lenses made asap and I had to be honest with him and tell him it could take up to two months.

That's the reality with ophthalmic glass anymore, and really has been the norm for years. Unfortunately, your pt had a completely unrealistic expectation, somewhat akin to getting mad at the local auto repair shop when the mechanic was unable to get new, original brake calipers for a 1935 Packard. They simply don't exist. They have to be sourced, and often made from scratch. In today's optical marketplace, they're rare, expensive, highly limited in design and type, and always take loads more time than any modern counterpart. Definitely a case of managing realistic expectations by the pt. This pt clearly was not.

[AndyOptom]

Even across the globe here, it's the same issue. Stock glass SV is not that hard to source, but custom Rx in glass easily takes up to a month or two (with an average seeming to be about 3-5 weeks).

For patients who insist on glass, I tell them roughly similar what Uilleann said, in that it's an increasingly rare order, can't fault the labs for waiting to have a minimum number of such orders before they'd activate their glass Rx division for one batch.

One patient tried to give me lip and went on about how this was a scam to force him into using plastic, offered to put him on the phone to the lab rep for him to ask them what they'd charge for him to pay them a lump sum and get it done as a special single order (he left without another word). Over drinks with said rep sometime later, the rep told me the figure, nothing to sneeze at.

[dwlk]

we go to walman's for our glass, last time i think took 3-4 weeks, and that was a pal photochromic glass lens too..

[d_a_h_u_k]

Optotech in Germany make a freeform machine specifically for glass lenses; if you reach out to them they should be able to put you in touch with one of their customers.