Optician2020 will develop the technologies and processes necessary to demonstrate that the personalised spectacles business can be fashionable and, at the same time, a sustainable and profitable proximity manufacturing industry. The project addresses the need for new manufacturing technologies and ICT tools for the local production of personalised spectacles.

The main competitive advantages of Optician2020 personalised spectacles manufactured at the proximity mini-production centres, compared to traditional mass production manufacturing with a wide distribution network, are the following:

• Complete personalised spectacles will be available for the first time.
• Product flexibility – shorter time-to-market: Frame catalogues easy to modify or update.
• Local manufacturing for consumer proximity.
• Shorter manufacturing time: no big batches and no manufacturing tools are required.
• Highly scalable business model via mini-factories spreading via existing suppliers: free-form RX labs and AM manufacturers.
• Higher added-value for all relevant actors within the supply chain.

Figure. Clustered production assets constituting Optician2020 demonstration mini-factories