Bringing together frames and lenses under one roof since 2018, the Group has been demonstrating the power of vertical integration to pioneer the next generation of eyecare and eyewear offerings for the benefit of customers and consumers. This enables people everywhere to learn, work, express themselves and fulfil their potential and explains why EssilorLuxottica continued to expand its manufacturing footprint in different parts of the world, notably in Thailand and Mexico in 2023, as well as laying the groundwork for our Excellence Laboratory in France (in 2024) and much more. The goal is to better address the growing global vision care needs through an increasingly integrated, diversified, and geographically balanced footprint.  

Rayong, Thailand 

On October 17, the Company announced the opening of a new integrated ophthalmic lenses and frames manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. Featuring innovative equipment and cross-cutting technologies to integrate automation into manufacturing processes, the 120,000 square meter facility extends over an area of 220,000 square meters, and is one of the largest for the Group globally, with end-to-end manufacturing capabilities at a single campus for production of ophthalmic lenses to prescription frames, sunglasses and assembly of complete pairs (both lenses and frames). The new facility will be LEED Gold certified, recognizing the highest standards of sustainability from an environmental, social, economic and health standpoint. It includes solar panels to create renewable energy and advanced systems to minimize water consumption using recycle treatment technologies. 

Together with prescription lenses and frames manufacturing, EssilorLuxottica has also built an integrated lenses and frames Distribution Centre to support the business in APAC and worldwide. 

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Tijuana and Chihuahua, Mexico 

The Company has invested in the development of a new, state-of-the-art facility in Tijuana, Mexico, that will include both optical operations and distribution center. The site is expected to produce an additional 10 million pairs of optical lenses per year once fully operational and will ship up to 25 million frames per year at full capacity. It started operating in November 2023.   

The Group has been present and growing in Chihuahua, Mexico, since 1985 when the first SOFI plant was established. In 2023, EssilorLuxottica invested in the development of a new mass production site producing semi-finished ultra-high index lenses for prescription lens laboratories. Designed as a smart factory, the facility utilizes the latest technologies in automation, cyber systems and intelligent manufacturing to increase employee safety, reduce scrap and maintain excellent product quality. The new facility has been operating since November this year. 

Greater Paris, France 

To better meet the needs of an increasingly competitive and constantly changing market, EssilorLuxottica announced in 2020 its investment of over €40 million for the creation of an Excellence Laboratory in France which will become operational in the first quarter of 2024. Located in the Greater Paris region and equipped with a state-of-the-art showroom, the new lens laboratory will be a global reference for the Company and strengthen its presence in the market. It brings together under one roof the prescription laboratories distributed over its sites in Antony, Vaulx-en-Velin and Le Mans as well as the distribution activities in Châlons-en-Champagne and the mounting activities in Toulouse. 

Enhancing the Group’s existing capabilities across the globe

EssilorLuxottica continued to work on enhancing its operational excellence to deliver superior quality products that raise the standard across the industry by strengthening its existing capabilities across the globe. In Italy, the Group further invested in its ' Made in Italy ' manufacturing by expanding its plant in Agordo, and enlarging its production of Barberini lenses, the world’s leading optical glass lens brand. In Japan, the Company continued to highlight the importance of its 'Made in Japan' manufacturing in the Fukui eyewear district by further investing in Fukui Megane, a truly unique manufacturing capability, embodying the excellence and quality of an eyewear tradition renowned throughout the world for its high craftsmanship, design and fine materials. 

To gain significant advantages in terms of scalability and growth, the Group continued investing in its automation and software capabilities, particularly in its mass production plants (both frames and lenses) as well as prescription laboratories. This is part of an ongoing journey to incorporate internally developed automated solutions, in line with EssilorLuxottica’s goal to achieve efficient manufacturing while reducing energy consumption and environmental impact. 

Another key focus area was on its internal manufacturing capabilities for its smart eyewear offering. The recently launched Ray-Ban I Meta, the next generation of smart glasses which seamlessly integrates artificial intelligence and livestreaming, was developed internally by the Group. Similarly, EssilorLuxottica aims to provide hearing solutions by the second half of 2024 using groundbreaking technology with proprietary hardware and software. 

Industry recognition 

The Group completed the quality management ISO 13485 certification audit for most of its ophthalmic lens mass manufacturing plants. Significant progress was made in the certification of its main laboratories, with 52 laboratories being ISO 13485 audited by the end of 2023. ISO 13485 is an internationally recognized quality standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system used by an organization demonstrating its ability to provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet strict customer and regulatory requirements.  

In addition, EssilorLuxottica also upgraded its optical controlling equipment during the launch preparations of the Varilux XR series lenses powered by AI. This upgrade ensures that the new progressive lenses are verified by a highly accurate automatic controlling device.