Our Industry's Resiliency is the Key to Our Success
By Tom Burke, CEO, ABB Optical Group
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic caught the supply chain industry by surprise. One minute, next-day delivery actually meant the next day. Then, in the blink of an eye, it didn’t. The world came to a grinding halt. Months later, businesses across the country and around the globe are adjusting to new and different ways of conducting business, often with limited staffing, resources and capabilities.
As leading manufacturers and suppliers of optical products in our industry, we know that the rebound has occurred more quickly than anticipated for eye care professionals (ECPs), faster than anyone could have predicted, which is considered a success. According to data from Jobson, ECPs are seeing patients at 85 percent of pre-COVID levels, thanks to thorough, well-thought reopening plans with both practice and patient safety at the forefront. Without a doubt, the recovery and revitalization of our industry has been nothing less than remarkable and solidifies the role of ECPs as essential healthcare providers.
However, as patient demand of optical products continues to increase, especially as it relates to the increase in patients requesting ECPs to ship their product to their home versus office pick-up, that demand causes increased stress on a supply chain that is still recovering, adjusting and adapting to what we know will be the landscape, at least for the near future.
And it isn’t just the eye care industry that is experiencing a greater reliance on shipping carriers such as USPS, UPS and FedEx. According to logistics vendor Narvar Inc., e-commerce order volume increased drastically - nearly 47% - from March 20-April 20 of this year, at the height of the shutdown, compared with the February 2020 average. With such a surge in orders, shipping delays also increased, with retailers taking an average of 1.5 days longer than normal to fulfill orders, according to Narvar data. Along with this, air travel, including air freight, dropped to only a fraction of what it once was, and stayed that way for months, ostensibly causing companies who receive their products from overseas to take a big supply chain hit.
Across the board, our industry experienced a dramatic shift in the way orders were placed. Instead of shipping orders to an ECP’s practice, patients and practitioners sought the safety, ease and convenience of direct-to-patient shipping, meaning more individual orders and packages going out the door than ever before. What was once thought to be a temporary trend has stayed, along with a shift from dispensing from in-office inventory to shipping two boxes to millions of patients nationwide.
All of this combined with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inevitably leads to ongoing and lasting impact on the supply and logistics realms – longer fulfillment, shipment and delivery times - ultimately having an effect on each and every consumer, doctors and patients alike.
The unfortunate truth is that COVID-19 continues to be an ongoing health threat. Many companies are not yet operating at full steam ahead, impacting every aspect of business across the globe. Companies are conducting business in order to support employee and consumer safety with rigorous cleaning and sanitization, practicing social distancing and other procedures which potentially slow down or disrupt the speed of business. These same adjustments and adoption of best health and safety practices have been made by all freight carriers, distribution partners and manufacturers.
“None of us could have known or predicted the impact of COVID-19 on our industry or lives,” says Thomas Swinnen, President at Johnson & Johnson Vision North America. “But it’s clear to us that eye health is more important today than ever before, and we know that contact lenses play a critical role as a source of revenue for doctors to sustain practice operations, and ensure the continuity of eye care,” he added. “That’s why we acted with urgency and accelerated the delivery of several resources that ranged from financial relief for independent eye care providers, to digital kits and PPE that helped doctors quickly adapt and reopen their practices.”
Within our own industry, manufacturer and supply partners alike understand the significance of supply chain disruption to the daily operation of an optometry practice. All are feeling the continued impact and are working diligently, together, with every company, service provider and vendor to adapt and evolve as efficiently as possible to fill in the gaps in the supply chain left behind by a crippling global pandemic.
Sergio Duplan, North America Region President with Alcon, says the optometry community is continuing to make great strides toward recovery due to the resiliency and tenacity of its people. “The eye care industry has continued to work together effectively during these unprecedented times to meet patient needs even during shutdown. At Alcon, we quickly and nimbly adapted our operations -- from manufacturing and distribution, Customer Service, Training, and Professional and Medical Affairs, even moving our Field Sales Force to virtual support -- to ensure business continuity to deliver the products and services our customers and their patients rely on,” he states.
There is no question that COVID-19 has had and will continue to have a profound impact on every industry; but if there is one thing that is certain, it is that the optical industry is resilient, dynamic and filled with passionate leadership that will chart the course for successfully navigating through the changed supply chain landscape.
“If there’s one word to describe eye care professionals, it’s resilient. Just look at our history spanning more than a century,” says Executive Vice President of Professional Strategies at Healthy Eyes Advantage Justin Manning, OD, MPH, FAAO. “While many eye care providers continue to bounce back quickly, there are still significant challenges facing both providers and the industry as we forge ahead. We are passionate about advancing the standard of care for our patients’ vision and overall health, and I firmly believe that by collaborating together, we can and will seize the opportunities ahead.”
Swinnen adds that, “Doctors and patients can take comfort in our unwavering support. It is part of our DNA to put their needs at the center of everything we do – we’ve been partnering and working side-by-side with doctors and patients before, we are partnering with them today, and we remain committed to sustain our partnership for years to come.”
We are certain that the eye care industry will come out stronger on the back-side of the current dynamics, and we are all working with the same goal in mind of ensuring that ECPs can successfully continue to provide essential healthcare of the best quality to each and every patient.
Special thank you to our contributing eye care industry partners:
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