CompanyWillich, January 2007
Company profile: SEIKO Optical Europe GmbH
SEIKO Optical Europe – from Willich to 30 markets
Formation: | in 1992 with 4 employees |
Managing Director: | Akira Nakashima since 2000, |
Employees: | 100 employees in Europe - 50 of which based in Willich (equal share of men and women), as of January 2007 |
Products: | high-quality organic spectacle lenses and frames |
Goal: | reputation as a reliable European company based in Willich |
Central question: | „How must spectacle lenses be designed to make me feel good?“ |
Expectation: | Products that are accepted in Germany and Japan will be the next standard products in the world. There are many examples for such a development in the company’s history (see: Technical Innovations) |
Sale spectacle lenses: | 2 million products per year in Europe (strongest market: Germany) |
Distribution: | from Willich to 30 countries in Europe and in the Near East |
Branches: | Belgium, U.K., France |
Turnover: | 35 million euros in 2006 |
Market share: | Seiko Optical belongs to the top 10 lens manufacturers and currently ranks a sixth place |
Group of companies: | close cooperation with the members of the Group, |
SEIKO Optical & SEIKO Epson – an unbeatable team
As the driving force for developments in the field of spectacle lenses the Seiko Epson Corporation has played a crucial role in the success of Seiko Optical. The ability to be just ahead of a new trend has paid dividends over and over again:
In 1975 Seiko Epson Optical Division developed the first organic single-vision lens that was “made in Japan“, which was distributed by the Seiko Corporation with great success. Only five years later the first organic progressive lens was introduced – also developed by Epson and distributed through the SEIKO Corporation.
How did this synergie come about? The least common denominator of Epson and Seiko Optical are guided light beams. Up until today Epson’s core competence has been to use the laws of physics so perfectly that light beams which are guided exactly onto very precise objectives can be used for beamers or scanners, for example.
Obviously this know-how was applied in other optical fields, too, as in optics the laws are very similar. The light must shine onto the lens surface in a controlled manner and on the inner side it must be guided into the spectacle wearer’s eye in order to make vision as comfortable as possible.
 |
 |
Seiko Watch Corporation & titanium – the metal of the Gods
| The raw material titanium has played an important role from the beginning. More than 25 years ago the Seiko Watch Corporation began processing titanium for the production of watches. Ever since, it has benefited from its experience in the watch production, applying it in the other divisions, and has been largely successful in using titanium for other products such as golf clubs and spectacle frames. The use of titanium for frames fits in with Seiko Optical’s principle in lens production - wafer-thin and extremely light products for optimum visual comfort. |
Press Contact:
Silke Hoffmann
SH/Communication – Public Relations
Hardt 9 (Nielenhof), 47877 Willich
Tel.: +49 (0) 21 59 – 69 49 80 Fax +49 (0) 21 59 – 69 49 89
E-mail: info@shcommunication.de