In-office lens inventory

[OpticalDinosaur]

Hello Fellow Optical Guru's:
How important do you feel it is to have a finished lens inventory? I, as surely many of you, have finish labs in-house. With the trend of "1 hour" service going out and the ability to obtain lenses within a 24 hour period, do you feel it is a benefit or a nuisance to maintain an inventory?

Certainly there are benefits to having lenses in stock, but there are also down sides: time for inventorying and reordering, cost(s), lens advancements, etc.. However, there is something rewarding of a childs' face lighting up when he walks out with his first pair that you made in a matter of minutes.

I have been debating of keeping my inventory or discontinuing and just ordering from the distributor - I receive finish lenses within 24 hours and no shipping fees. Your feedback would be useful. Thank you for your input.

OD

[lensmanmd]

Well now, this is a loaded question!

It it all depends on your COGs from your lab vs from your vendor, as well as delivery times. Is this with or without AR? What about spoilage? What about convenience? What are the redo policies? There are many things to consider.

This really comes down to the level (and speed) of service that you want to provide vs COGs.

We have an AR lab on site, but would rather order and stock FSVAR. We can’t process process SVAR at a lower COG as compared to our lens vendor when factoring in labor and consumable costs.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. I would love to hear from other dispensary owners.

[OpticalDinosaur]

[QUOTE=lensmanmd;542796]Well now, this is a loaded question!

Well, I see your point, about being loaded. It was more of a generalized question, but you do establish good questions for thought. Where I have had an onsite inventory of Polycarb/AR for over 17 years, I have yet again decided to upgrade the product line - the distributor wouldn't take back all the the discontinued lenses for credit, so the cost does get a little high for the outlay, but the margins will absorb that cost in a short time. I actually like being able to sell and dispense within minutes - adds to the margins! but, the time it takes to do inventory every week, sit and order (either by phone or web), then restock - that takes time, and time is money, hehehe!

Anywho, Thank you for the voice and look forward to others.

OD

[Happylady]

We don’t keep any inventory. We rarely find that someone really needs new lenses that fast.

[Lab Insight]

Hello Fellow Optical Guru's:
How important do you feel it is to have a finished lens inventory? I, as surely many of you, have finish labs in-house. With the trend of "1 hour" service going out and the ability to obtain lenses within a 24 hour period, do you feel it is a benefit or a nuisance to maintain an inventory?

Certainly there are benefits to having lenses in stock, but there are also down sides: time for inventorying and reordering, cost(s), lens advancements, etc.. However, there is something rewarding of a childs' face lighting up when he walks out with his first pair that you made in a matter of minutes.

I have been debating of keeping my inventory or discontinuing and just ordering from the distributor - I receive finish lenses within 24 hours and no shipping fees. Your feedback would be useful. Thank you for your input.

OD

For 1% of those times when patients need a pair edged in an hour, it makes sense. For the other 99%, you can have your lenses delivered within 24 hours and have somebody else hold the inventory. Do the math.

[CME4SPECS]

For 1% of those times when patients need a pair edged in an hour, it makes sense. For the other 99%, you can have your lenses delivered within 24 hours and have somebody else hold the inventory. Do the math.

That's the way I see it!
Consumers never wanted glasses in an hour to begin with, until some one came along and said, we can do it in an hour! Then everyone else decided they could do it in an hour too. Consumers now a days are used to waiting for things a bit longer, they will wait an astonishing 24 hours for amazon prime to deliver!

[Don Gilman]

Hello Fellow Optical Guru's:
How important do you feel it is to have a finished lens inventory? I, as surely many of you, have finish labs in-house. With the trend of "1 hour" service going out and the ability to obtain lenses within a 24 hour period, do you feel it is a benefit or a nuisance to maintain an inventory?

Certainly there are benefits to having lenses in stock, but there are also down sides: time for inventorying and reordering, cost(s), lens advancements, etc.. However, there is something rewarding of a childs' face lighting up when he walks out with his first pair that you made in a matter of minutes.

I have been debating of keeping my inventory or discontinuing and just ordering from the distributor - I receive finish lenses within 24 hours and no shipping fees. Your feedback would be useful. Thank you for your input.

OD

I can't imagine anyone one having paid the big bucks to have an edger and then not wanting to have a basic inventory of CR-39 lenses costing about $500.00. You speak of time for reordering, what about time spent ordering 1 or 2 pair daily. How much money do you loose if one patient per week or month decides to walk out with the Rx if you don't have a lens in stock? We have an inexpensive inventory program that allows you to enter an Rx, compute the minimum blank size needed and post to a re order form.

[EyeManDan]

We don’t keep any inventory. We rarely find that someone really needs new lenses that fast.

we keep a supply of stock, but rarely do we find we have to use it for a fast order. however it does cut down on turn around time.

[Tallboy]

I carry stock spherical poly from -4.00 to +2.00 with up to -1.50 cyl. Mostly for the kids and those impatient few.

If you want CR39 or AR or high index you can wait a day! :)

[Quince]

It's all about location and competition standards. We stock +2.00 to -6.00 with a -2.00 cyl in CR39/ AR and poly clear / AR. And we use it. We don't have a 'real' inventory on anything because I work in an old school practice. We also have a surface lab with an extensive inventory as well even though we order out for digital. For our location, it makes sense because use it. For 2 out of 3 locations, emergency / rush jobs are almost daily.

[peyes]

Continue to inventory.

[David_Garza]

If you have an in house edger it's silly not to carry at least some basic inventory like people are posting. Cost is low and can literally pay entirely for itself with a few sales, especially if your are located in an area that doesn't provide same day services.