Walmart opens new Coating Center of Excellence at Fayetteville
In partnership with ZEISS’ Customer Enablement and Engineering Team, Walmart has implemented a state-of-the-art new coating facility using ZEISS’ premium hard and AR coating technology.
May 12, 2015
Walmart and ZEISS started their partnership on AR Coating technology fifteen years ago. Today Walmart as the leading retailer and ZEISS as a leading eyeglass lens manufacturer celebrate their collaboration in the development and implementation of a new center of excellence for Coatings in the Fayetteville Laboratory.
“The opening today of the new Coating Facility in Fayetteville is testament to the excellent partnership between Walmart’s Operations team and our Customer Enablement and Engineering team”, says Dr. Raymund Heinen, President and CEO of ZEISS Vision Care business group. “The promise of ZEISS is to enable our customers to realize their ambitions, and with this new Center of Excellence we enable Walmart to offer the next generation of premium coatings, drive the productivity loop and deliver best consumer experience.”
Building this Center of Excellence required extensive coordination across multiple vendors including Leybold and Optimal as the primary equipment suppliers, and between the ZEISS and Walmart engineering teams over a fourteen month period. “We are excited because today we celebrate our partnership in leading technology and innovation, and the associated teamwork and trust between our respective teams”, says Ulrich Krauss, CEO of ZEISS Vision Care North America. “And most importantly, this teamwork has created an opportunity to deliver a superior consumer experience.”
In 1935 a ZEISS engineer, Alexander Smakula, invented the world’s first anti-reflective coating. In 1959 ZEISS was granted a patent for AR coating of eyeglass lenses. “Alexander Smakula challenged the boundaries of accepted optics and made an invention which has improved the life and work of millions of people”, says Dr. Heinen. “Today and in the future we at ZEISS will continue to see beyond in order to enable our customers to reach their ambitions and to improve vision for more people.
“The new Coating Center of Excellence at Walmart will continue this tradition of delivering better vision experience to many consumers”, says Dr. Heinen. “We look forward to many more milestones and celebrations of our partnership with Walmart in the future.
Press contact
ZEISS Vision Care
Joachim Kuss, Director Communications
Phone +49 151 42112288
E-Mail: joachim .kuss @zeiss .com