FAYETTEVILLE -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. invested $10 million to upgrade equipment in its Fayetteville optical laboratory and has similar improvements planned for production facilities in Indiana and Texas, the company said Tuesday.
Eyeglasses are the only product manufactured by the retailer, and Wal-Mart promotes itself as the largest producer of prescription eyewear in the United States. Nearly one-third of the orders placed by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are produced at the optical factory in Fayetteville.
Equipment upgrades were made to improve quality and capacity, the retailer said. Improvements also allowed the manufacturing process to become more environmentally sustainable.
"We're celebrating a new chapter for this facility and our lab network," said Scott Pickering, senior director of optical manufacturing and distribution for Wal-Mart. "We're going to be able to help more customers get their orders faster and even better quality than what we're providing them today. It's a big investment."
Pickering said Wal-Mart produces up to 25,000 pairs of glasses per day at the three factories it owns and at two partner facilities.
The factory is the second-largest employer in Fayetteville after the University of Arkansas. Wal-Mart opened the facility in 1995, and the equipment being replaced was installed in 2002. Employees at the Fayetteville plant earn an average of $16.94 an hour.
Much of the manpower used in the process is dedicated to the final of three main stages of manufacturing. New equipment was purchased to aid in the cutting and coating of the lenses.
Part of the upgrades allowed Wal-Mart to eliminate the use of alloy metals. Wal-Mart is the first major lab in the U.S. to eliminate alloy from the process, Pickering said.
Wal-Mart and supplier Satisloh worked to eliminate the use of alloy in the manufacturing, the retailer said. That helped improve sustainability at the plant, which recycles nearly 95 percent of the materials used.
"Recently, optical manufacturing has caught up with other manufacturing areas in regards to sophistication, accuracy, efficiency and speed. What's enabled that is new equipment, new processes, automation," said Andy Huthoefer, vice president of development North America and head of global marketing for Satisloh. "I can tell you the Fayetteville lab as it is today is very much at the forefront of this change."
Carl Zeiss Vision began working with Wal-Mart on anti-reflective coating 15 years ago. The protective coating was developed 80 years ago and adapted for eyewear in 1959.
Changes to the anti-reflective coating equipment began about 14 months ago, according to Uli Krauss, chief executive officer and president of Carl Zeiss Vision's U.S. division.
Wal-Mart also is planning an expansion of its network of approximately 3,000 vision centers throughout the U.S.
Renovations also are planned for Wal-Mart vision centers. Carmen Bauza, senior vice president overseeing optical products for Wal-Mart U.S., said a prototype will be unveiled at the Elm Springs location in Springdale during the week of the company's annual shareholders meeting.
"We're investing here in the labs to have the best technology that we are very proud of, but we also want to create the best environment and experience in our stores," Bauza said.
Business on 05/13/2015