A view inside the Marchon Direct lab in Melville, N.Y.


A lab technician blocks a lens using an Ice 900 from Santinelli International.
MELVILLE, N.Y.—Frame manufacturers typically distribute their products through optical laboratories, but seldom if ever own and operate a lab themselves.

A prominent exception is Marchon Direct. Launched by Marchon and its parent company, VSP Global, in March, 2013, the lab provides one-stop shopping for Marchon’s accounts.

“In the optical industry, ECPs typically order their patients’ frames from one vendor and then have a second vendor cut the lenses and insert them into the frames,” explained Donna Rollins, vice president of Marchon Direct. “Marchon and VSPOne Optics equated the current system to having to go to one place for a burger and another for the bun. The concept of being able to order a frame with lenses from one vendor becomes reality with the launch of Marchon Direct. It provides a convenience for our accounts that they haven’t had in the past.”

The lab, which operates out of Marchon’s Melville, N.Y. headquarters, currently processes about 850 prescriptions a month, all of them cut and edge jobs, according to Rollins. Lenses that require surfacing are processed at a VSPOne lab then sent to Marchon Direct for finishing and mounting, she said.

Rollins noted that Marchon Direct has made the ordering process convenient too. Accounts can place orders either through Eyefinity’s website or through the Marchon MVP web ordering portal.

akarp@jobson.com