Paperless production –

Challenging lab and LMS

Paperless production offers many benefits for labs, but the road to get there is not without challenges. Christopher Diez, authorized officer at LensWare International, has been project manager for complex LMS projects in conceptualization and rollout processes since 2019. His presentation at MAFO – The Conference 2023 highlighted various aspects to consider when implementing paperless production. Diez spoke with MAFO about his insights and experience in the development and handling of corresponding software

By Rebekka Nurkanovic

Does paperless lab mean completely free of paper, or are there still areas where paper will continue to play a role in the future?

In a paperless lab, paper disappears completely from the lens manufacturing process. It is still needed in the shipping process to protect the lenses and for printing delivery notes, some of which are required by law. There is also an exceptional case in lens production where paper still exists. This is the typical one-sided breakage, where the good lens is protected on one side by a white paper bag, even during intermediate storage and when traveling through the lab. However, in a standard cycle with no breakage, the lab can be entirely paperless – from the receipt of the order to dispatch in the shipping department.

What are the main benefits of a paperless lab?

The ability to monitor progress is significantly improved, especially in the coating department, as digital monitoring in these areas is made possible for the first time. Up to now, one only knew that orders had entered the department but not where they were. Digitization improves the flow of information and furthermore there are also clear advantages with regard to the Medical Devices Regulation. Since we now no longer require paper in the coating departments, this should lead to a reduction in paper dust and thus an improvement in quality, thanks to less dust being deposited on the lenses. However, it remains to be seen whether this effect is actually observed in practice. In the surface production itself, the production is already fully automated in the larger labs and thus virtually paperless. For the machines themselves, it makes no difference whether they scan a barcode from a paper or job tray or read an RFID chip.

You have also considered the changeover to a paperless lab from a psychological perspective. What particular aspects have you considered here?

That is actually the biggest challenge. Of course, there are also technical challenges but, in my opinion, the psychological aspect is the key issue during changeover. Particularly in coating, where PCs have not played any significant role to date, this represents a major change in the workflow. Everyone knows that people are creatures of habit. Thus any changeover is bound to be difficult and will always present a psychological challenge. So it is important that management not only makes decisions but also that the employees are involved. Only with the support of the employees can the introduction of the software be successful. This is my great hope and request to the labs: close cooperation between the current users of the system in the departments and us as software developers is absolutely essential. This is the only way to develop software that truly meets all requirements and is easy and intuitive to use.

In your presentation, you divided the technological aspects into the areas work preparation, surfacing/treatment and quality control/edging/shipping. Which aspects play a key role in each of these areas?

In work preparation, we have the major challenge that without paper, there is no indication that new orders exist. In many smaller labs, it is only when paper starts coming out of the printer that employees know that there is something afoot. If there is no paper, we need to find another way to clearly indicate the arrival of a new order on the screen. For larger labs, setting priorities was previously done using print channels or different colored paper, so this now has to be incorporated in the software. The major challenge is to create clear workflows in this area. Paper has the advantage that only one person can hold it in their hand at any one time, so there is no risk of different employees processing the same job. In larger labs, where a number of employees go through the warehouse and prepare orders, the system has to be digitally protected so that people can't take each other's orders with some being picked multiple times while others are ignored undone.

In surface production, the changeover to paperless production is not a major challenge, because from blocking onwards in many cases material flow control and switches are used.

In coating, we are introducing the PC for the first time. We have already developed a solution and carried out a proof-of-concept with two major labs. What still remains is to carry out field tests, to gain experience on production and quality. This is a very exciting time and we hope to be able to come up with answers in the next few weeks. The first live introduction in a lab is planned for April.

Quality control for Rx on its own is also not a big challenge, as much can now be done using corresponding machines or manual lens meters. This procedure is well known and the visualization of expected measured value data has been around for years. Displaying the coating recipe is also not a big challenge because the staff know the recipe code. It is only necessary to display which production is to be expected at this workplace. However, this is not so in the case of edging inspection, where we used to have a one-to-one scale printout on the job ticket, so one could put the lens on the paper after edging to check the thickness and the thickness parameters. However, this can also be done on the screen, preferably on a horizontal display or a screen embedded into the table. Still, I see checking the shape as the biggest challenge in quality control, because the reflection on the screen is different from that on paper. And here again, this is also something employees have to get used to.

What features does the software need in order to meet the technical requirements as well as to be user-friendly?

The software development must take place under close coordination between the actual users and the developers. We have the great advantage that some of our developers have many years of experience in production which they can incorporate. Nevertheless, it is important for us to enter into a close dialog with lab employees. A balance has to be struck between user-friendliness and technical requirements. On the one hand, the employee must receive sufficient guidance and confirm each step so that the software can then check that the appropriate operations are being carried out. At the same time, the number of mouse clicks required need to be minimized, so that the system is acceptable to the users. Particularly in departments where PCs have not previously been used, one should ensure that as few buttons as possible need to be pressed. We are naturally treading a fine line here and an ideal solution can only be found in close dialog.

Is it a good idea to divide the path to a paperless lab into different stages?

In a new lab, you can certainly do everything all at once. In the case of existing labs wanting to change, it makes sense to split up the procedure into several steps. First, operations like surface production which are well under control must become completely paperless or “unmanned”. The first operation to go should be removing the process of carrying orders to the machines by hand, or entering and correcting values at the control panels.

After fully automating surface production, the next operation for me is in the direction of coating. While paper may still be available, because this is available as an option, employees should avoid making use of it as far as possible. Only after this should attention be turned to work preparation. There is also the option of doing the steps vice versa, this would have a psychological effect, since order processing ideally is fully automated anyway, coming from the B2B solution. We don't need to concern ourselves with dispatch & shipping, because for the time being paperwork remains essential in this area. As long as fully digitalized delivery documents are not accepted, delivery notes will need to be printed in the shipping department for the foreseeable future.

How can data security and data protection be assured?

In principle, data security is the responsibility of the labs. They must ensure that appropriate backups are created so that the system can be rebooted in the event of a fault. The protection of end-user data is a difficult matter because we ourselves are not interested in the data itself and it is not relevant to the processing of the order. Here lens suppliers and opticians must reach agreement on who transmits and stores what data and for how long. The system must only ensure that end-user-related data can be deleted. However, backups present us with a situation where it is technically not easy to delete data there, or it may even be partly contrary to our responsibility. Data protection and IT security requirements are thus at odds with each other here. The best advice is to try not to collect sensitive data in the first place. The warranty card does not have to be personalized, and as soon as you leave out the end-user-related information, such as name, email address and date of birth, data protection is no longer an issue, because ultimately the only information you save is the order number.

When do you expect to launch your software for the paperless lab in the marketplace?

The product development is now 90-95% complete. Until the practical trials in April, we are continuing to work on the fine points, for example on the brush washing system, where the job tray will need to be changed automatically by a machine. I expect we will have completed the final touches by the fall.

I am looking forward to seeing how much this topic will be accepted in the global market. On the one hand we have to consider return on investment and, on the other, the development of the legal position. Thus I don't really expect a big bang but rather a gradual change. But, however you see it, it is certainly an enormous step for our industry.

Thank you for the interview. ◆

Picture: vegefox.com/stock.adobe.com