Participating in a panel discussion about digital lens processing were, (l to r) Andrew George of LBC Optics/Wisconsin Vision; Joe Maris, VSP Labs, Sacramento; Dale Parmenteri, Balester Optical; Adam Cherry, Cherry Optical; Darren Ihmels, Eyence/FYI Doctors.
THE COLONY, Texas—Schneider Optical Machines hosted its first “Digicon” here last month, a four-day conference designed to educate Schneider’s customers about the company’s latest digital lens processing technologies. The event, held here from May 4 to 7, drew 135 optical laboratory owners and managers, including representatives from wholesale, integrated retail and managed vision care laboratories.

 
(L to R) Schneider’s Kurt Atchison, Gunter Schneider and Stephan Huttenhuis welcomed Digicon attendees and presented an overview of the company’s latest technology.
Digicon kicked off with two days of intensive training on machine care, processing and optimization. Attendees learned free-form essentials, equipment calibration and troubleshoot techniques and received hands-on training at Schneider’s North American headquarters here.

On day three, Schneider executives premiered the Schneider Prolab, a versatile digital surfacing system geared for small and mid-size labs. Schneider also showcased a new alloy-free blocking system and an industrial edger, the HSE Freestyle.

 
Schneider’s Bill Yee, (l), presented the new HSE Freestyle. 
“A key goal of Digicon was to introduce our customers to another side of the company,” said Kurt Atchison, president of Schneider Optical Machines, Inc., Schneider’s North American arm. “They know us from our products, but not as much through our customer support and our people. At Digicon, we gave them advanced training and education. It helped them get smarter about free-form and provided us with a showcase for our newest technologies.”

Gunter Schneider, president of German parent company Schneider Optical Machines, added, “At Digicon, we can can go into more depth about the technology than we can at a trade show, and that brings much more value to our customers.” ■


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