I want to take a moment to explain what’s been happening at the Lab and why you are likely experiencing uncharacteristic service levels from COL recently.

On the week of May 5, we began preparing for the installation of additional machines for our digital surfacing operations. These preparations slowed hourly throughput as we needed to expand and make room within our automation ring to move existing equipment and prepare for newly arriving equipment. While we have the best technicians available from our equipment vendor onsite and a plan that estimated minimal impact was developed, good old reality struck. A couple of configuration issues and the need to validate the new machines’ quality before letting them produce “wide open” have us backed up. That’s the bad news: we’re behind in surface production, and it will take several days to get back on track.

The better news is that everything was in place as of yesterday (5/14) afternoon and producing lenses to our quality expectations. We have already experienced the expected productivity gains and are now equipped to put in the work needed to get production rolling faster than ever. The new throughput gains are significant. We’ll now be able to produce the equivalent of an additional day’s surface production each week. The production departments downstream from surface production are fully equipped and ready to handle the work that is now coming their way. Many COL Team Members are volunteering for extra shifts this weekend to accelerate our return to optimal service levels.

Why didn’t we give you a heads-up? The straight answer is that I was told something I knew to be untrue and believed it anyway. I’ve done a lot of expansions and new equipment installs over the years. Rarely, and I mean RARELY, do they go anywhere near as smoothly as the project managers project them to go. “It will be no problem” is the worst phrase you can tell me. I prefer, “There will be many issues, but we will overcome them.” Please don’t interpret this as me passing the blame. The equipment engineers who are on site are doing a great job, and we are quickly overcoming the few remaining open items. My mistake is that I didn’t give our customers a heads up because I wanted to believe the installation would go as smoothly as I was told. I knew better. For that reason, I apologize for the current delays.

Expect service levels to return to normal by Thursday of next week. Between now and then, we’ll be working nearly nonstop, prioritizing the oldest jobs and adhering to our high-quality standards. Stick with us a bit, and I promise we’ll be faster than ever before shortly.

Sincerely,

Adam Cherry - President
Cherry Optical Lab