The Naval Ophthalmic Readiness Activity Detachment Yorktown requires an edging system to create shelf bevels utilizing current LMS capabilities and pre-installed software from specific frame manufacturers. Optical fabrication is a Military Health Service readiness requirement produced by both Army and Navy fabrication labs. Those labs comprise the DoD Optical Fabrication Enterprise (OFE). The OFE fabricates approximately 1.5M pairs of eyewear annually for the warfighter. Fabrication is mission critical to readiness. NORA Yorktown is the largest laboratory in the OFE, producing about 560K pairs of spectacles annually, or 37 percent of the OFE annual output. The need to have adequate lens edging capabilities for the optical fabrication of safety eyewear and for those in theatre is critical. NORA’s machinery performs lens cutting and edging. Adequate edging capabilities enable mission tasks that produce prescription eyewear for the DoD (35K plus monthly). The lack of an edging system capable of producing shelf bevels for ANSI Z87.1 safety lenses will drastically reduce optical fabrication operations, causing production output delays. This pitfall can negatively impact patient care and the Navy’s readiness mission. Meisystems Inc. is the only source capable of providing the necessary components to accurately create a shelf bevel utilizing our Lens Manufacturing System (LMS), existing airlines, power source and current frame selections.
