BESPOKE MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

This invention relates to a method and system for inspecting bespoke manufactured products. In particular, this invention relates to the manufacture and quality control of bespoke optical components for the eyes, such as spectacles.

Many distributors of bespoke products reduce costs and overheads by outsourcing the manufacture of such products to outside suppliers. This is particularly true in the manufacture of bespoke optical components for the eyes, such as spectacles, where the investment in terms of capital equipment and manpower, stock and components can be substantial.

The manufacture of spectacles involves cutting corrective lenses according to an optometrist's prescription and then securing the lenses in a spectacle frame. Since there are often many hundreds of frames available to the consumer, and, furthermore, various coatings, additions and tints can be applied to the spectacle lenses, this leads to many thousands of combinations of frame and lenses being available to the consumer.

Outsourcing the manufacture to outside suppliers allows the distributor to concentrate on its core business competencies, such as marketing of the products and consumer service, instead of focussing on the complex manufacturing systems and processes that are needed to deal with this problem.

Bespoke products, such as spectacles, also require robust quaiity inspection of the finished product before the spectacles can be shipped. The quality inspection has two main purposes: firstly to ensure that the lenses are manufactured in accordance with the optometrist's prescription. This is usually achieved by measuring the optical properties of the lenses using a focimeter. A second, more qualitative, visual inspection ensures that the finished product is fit for purpose, e.g. by checking that the lenses are secured in the frame and that the hinges are correctly tensioned prior to shipping the product.

A problem with visual quality control or inspection is that is if very often subjective in nature, and primarily depends on the particular individual undertaking the task and their attenfiveness and concentration, which is likely to vary considerably throughout that individual's working day. Consequently, there are inevitable changes in the quaiity standards of known visual quality control or inspections, and it is not always possible to achieve a good reproducibility of the quaiity of the finished products.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for inspecting bespoke manufactured products. The method and system ensures that the bespoke products are fully tracked during their manufacture and subsequent inspection, and all inspection test results are recorded and automatically stored in a central database. The present invention therefore ensures that the identity of each individual glazer and quality inspector is recorded for accountability purposes. If problems subsequently arise after the goods have been despatched, the present invention can be used to fully investigate and address quality issues.

According to the present invention there Is provided a method for inspecting a bespoke manufactured product, comprising the steps of:

storing data representative of at least one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product; prompting an inspector to positively validate at least one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product;

comparing the prompted attribute against the stored data; and

performing at feast one quality Inspection of the bespoke manufactured product if the prompted attribute is correctly validated against the stored data.

An advantage of using the present invention for inspecting bespoke manufactured products is that by prompting the inspector at various stages of the quality Inspection process to positively validate attributes of the bespoke manufactured product helps to maintain attentiveness and reduce occurrences of inspector fatigue. Additionally, by automating some of the quaiity control steps helps to further reduce potential sources of human error.

In use, the method may further comprise the steps of:

assigning a unique product identifier to the bespoke manufactured product;

assigning a unique inspector identifier to the individual inspector; and

recording the unique product identifier and unique inspector identifier.

Preferably, the bespoke manufactured product is an optical component for the eyes. Further preferably, the bespoke manufactured product is prescription spectacles.

In use, the at feast one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product may be selected from the group consisting of consumer name, contact delate, shipping address, optical prescription, frame choice, fens type, lens coating, lens addition and lens tint.

Preferably, performing at least one quality inspection of the bespoke manufactured product is selected from the group consisting of visually assessing frame quality, visually assessing glazing quality and visually assessing lens alignment,

Further preferably, performing at least one quality inspection of the bespoke manufactured product further comprises the steps of:

measuring the optical properties of the lens using a focimeter; and

comparing the measured optica! properties against the optical prescription.

In use, the method may further comprise the step of:

recording on a database whether the bespoke manufactured product passes or fails the at !east one quaiit inspection.

Preferably, the step of recording the unique product identifier and unique inspector identifier further comprises the step of:

scanning a machine readable code using a barcode scanner.

Further preferably, the machine readable code is embodied in any one of the following; barcode, Quick Response (QR) code, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, magnetic data carrier, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and smart card.

In use, wherein if the bespoke manufactured product fails the at least one quality Inspection, then the method may further comprise the step of:

performing at least one secondary quality inspection of the bespoke manufactured product. Also according to the present invention there is provided a method for manufacturing a bespoke manufactured product, comprising the steps of;

receiving an order from a remote server;

picking the respective parts;

assembling the bespoke manufactured product according to the order; and inspecting the bespoke manufactured product according to the inventive method described above,

Further according to the present invention there is provided computer program product for inspecting a bespoke manufactured product, comprising:

computer program product means for storing data representative of at Ieast one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product;

computer program product means for prompting an inspector to positively validate at feast one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product;

computer program product means for comparing the prompted attribute against the stored data; and

computer program product means for performing at feast one quality inspection of the bespoke manufactured product if the prompted attribute is correctly validated against the stored data.

Also further according to the present invention there is provided a system for Inspecting a bespoke manufactured product, comprising the steps of:

means for storing data representative of at Ieast one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product;

means for prompting an inspector to positively validate at feast one attribute of the bespoke manufactured product;

means for comparing the prompted attribute against the stored data; and

means for performing at least one quality inspection of the bespoke manufactured product if the prompted attribute is correctly validated against the stored data. ft is believed that a method and system for inspecting bespoke manufactured products in accordance with the present invention at ieast addresses the problems outlined above. The advantages of the present invention are that a method and system Is provided which ensures that the bespoke products are fully tracked during their manufacture and subsequent inspection, and all inspection test results are recorded and automatically stored in a central database. Further advantageously, the present invention ensures that the identity of each individual g!azer and quafity inspector is recorded for accountability purposes. If problems subsequently arise after the goods have been despatched, the present invention can be used to fully investigate and address quality issues. Prompting the quality inspector at various stages of the quality inspection process to positively validate attributes of ths bespoke manufactured products advantageously helps to reduce occurrences of inspector fatigue.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variations of the present invention are possible and it is intended that the present invention may be used other than as specifically described herein.

Specific non-limiting embodiments of the Invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a flow diagram showing how a bespoke product is manufactured and inspected according to the present invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a flow diagram showing how a quality inspection according to the present invention is implemented;

Fig, 4 illustrates a flow diagram showing a secondary quality Inspection that is required should the bespoke manufactured product fail the quality inspection shown in Figs. 2 and 3;

Figs. 5 to 15 are screenshots that Illustrate how quality checks are recorded in accordance with the quality inspection procedures outlined in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 18 illustrates a flow diagram showing how an inexpensive manual foclmeter can be interfaced to measure and record the optical properties of bespoke manufactured products in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 1? is a high-level schematic diagram showing how the quality inspection according to the present invention is implemented in hardware. In the following description each step in the accompanying drawings will be referred to as "S" followed by the step number, e.g. S1G, S12 etc.

Referring now to the drawings, a method of receiving a bespoke order, and manufacturing and inspecting the resultant bespoke product it can be shipped to the consumer is illustrated in Fig. 1. The present invention has been developed specifically for the manufacture of bespoke optical products, such as prescription spectacles and sunglasses. This is in no way intended to be limiting as, in use, such manufacturing and inspection processes can be utilised in many different types of bespoke assembly.

An electronic order is received via the distributor's secure website, The order includes a number of fields such as, but not limited to, consumer name and contact details, optical prescription RX (which specifies the values of all parameters the optometrist deems necessary to construct corrective lenses appropriate for the consumer), spectacle frame choice, lens type and additional coatings or tints, shipping address. When the order is received on the manufacturer's system a unique order number is assigned to it, In a preferred embodiment, the unique order number is an alphanumeric identifier which is machine readable by a barcode scanner. The printed order, along with its unique machine readable product identifier, is then placed in a bin or tray and the individual component parts required to construct the bespoke spectacles are then picked from the warehouse and placed in the tray.

Lenses are then cut to shape according to the frame dimensions in a lens cutter. At S10 glaze then assembles the Senses and frame. At each stage in the manufacturing process, each individual glazer is logged on to the system by scanning their own respective barcode to uniquely identify thern, or alternatively each individual glazer may have a unique login. Only when the individual glazer is iogged on to the system can any work to the order be carried out and recorded.

At S12, the glazer then assesses whether the order has been glazed correctly, and is prompted by a pop-up window to confirm that the job has been successful or not. If the glazer selects "Yes", the optical properties of the lenses are then measured using a focimeter at S14. At S16, the system prompts the glazer to scan the tray containing the manufactured spectacles and the unique order number is scanned using a barcode scanner. At 518, the system then calls the focimeter and compares its measured values against the consumer's prescription held in the central database which administrates the system. At S2G, a compare method is used to compare the measurements obtained from the focimeter to check if they are within acceptable tolerances.

If the obtained measurements are within tolerances at S22, the order is then passed for a visual quality control inspection as described in detail in relation to Figs. 2 and 3. If the lenses are outside of the tolerances at S24, a pop-up will be displayed advising the g!azer thai the order is not within acceptable tolerances and the glazer is, at S26 able to either re-scan and re-measure the order, or to pass the order directly to a secondary inspection procedure at S2S.

If, after re-measurement, the lenses still are not within acceptable tolerances, the glazer confirms that the order is to be rejected and a reject reason will then be entered, via a reject screen as shown in Fig. 15, In this case, where the spectacles have been manufactured with lenses having an incorrect prescription, it would be appropriate to select the reason "RX off power", and a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector to send the order to a secondary inspection at 528, Further details of the secondary inspection procedure are set out in Fig. 4.

Referring again to Fig. 1 , if at S12 the glazer decides that the order has not been glazed correctly for any reason, the glazer is able to specify, at S3Q, that the order is to be rejected. At S32, the order is scanned and a reject reason will then be entered at S38, via the reject screen shown in Fig, 15, At S38 _t a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector to send the order to secondary inspection.

Fig. 1 also shows the process that is followed if the spectacles rejected and returned to the "cell", which is a re-work section. In the re-work section, at S40, the glazer scans the order which then displays, at S42, the specific reason why the spectacles have been returned to the cell. At S44, the glazer then attempts to rectify the order by performing some remedial re-work and if the glazer assesses the re-work to be successful, at S4S, the order Is then passed for a visual quality control inspection, as set out in Figs. 2 and 3.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the steps of a visual quality control inspection according to the present invention that has been developed in order to overcome issues of inspector fatigue, and to adequately record the outcome of the quality checks so that the manufacturer can fully and promptly investigate quality issues after the product has been despatched. As with each stage of the manufacturing process described above in relation to Fig, 1, each individual quality inspector is logged on to the system by scanning their own respective barcode to uniquely Identify them, or alternatively each quality inspector may have a unique login. As weil as actually recording the individual inspector performing the quality checks for accountability purposes, the inspector is routinely prompted at various steps of the quality inspection process to positively validate attributes of the spectacles, as described in detail below, to maintain attentiv ess and reduce occurrences of inspector fatigue.

The visual quaisty control inspection according to the present invention commences, at S50, when the machine readable unique order number on the tray containing the manufactured spectacles is scanned using a barcode scanner. In other embodiments, other forms of automatic data capture could be utilised such as, for example, Quick Response (QR) codes, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, magnetic data carriers and stripes, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and smart cards. On scanning a valid order at S52, the inspector is taken to a first check screen at S58, termed "Check 1 : 3 x frames listed on screen" in Fig. 2. A screenshct of this screen is shown in Fig. 5, Alternatively, if an invalid order number is scanned, the Inspector is be presented with an error message at S54 informing that the order number cannot be found S56.

In this first check, at SS8, the inspector is presented with three different frames listed on the screen at S60. At S82, the inspector is then prompted to check that the order has been manufactured with the correct frame. The inspector will then select the frame from a choice three. One will be the correct frame and the other two will be randomly selected.

Selecting the correct frame will at S68 navigate the inspector to the second check screen, termed "Check 2: Frame Quality" in Fig. 2. Alternatively, if the wrong frame is selected at S84 a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector they have selected the wrong frame, and enquiring if they wish to reject the order. Additionally, selecting the option "none of these" shown in Fig, 5 will display a pop-up advising the inspector that they have selected "none of these", and enquiring if they wish to reject the order.

If the inspector confirms that the order is to be rejected a reject reason will then be entered, via a reject screen as shown In Fig. 15, In this case, where the spectacles have been manufactured with the wrong frame, it would be appropriate to select this reason, and a pop-up will be displayed at S86 advising the inspector to send the order to a secondary inspection,

If the inspector does not wish the order to be rejected, the reject pop-up can be closed by selecting the "Go Back" button in Fig. 15, and another set of random frames will be displayed for the inspector to make the seiection.

By prompting the inspector to positively validate attributes of the spectacles, in this case by validating that the order has been manufactured with the correct frame helps to maintain attentiveness and reduce occurrences of inspector fatigue. The overall quality and robustness of the visual quality control is subsequently improved.

Selecting the correct frame will at S88 navigate the inspector to the second check screen, termed "Check 2: Frame Quality" in Fig, 2. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig, 8. As shown in Fig. 8, the Inspector is prompted at S70 to perform a check of the frame quality and a pass/fail decision is taken at S72. If the frame quality is deemed to be unacceptable, the inspector selects the "No" button which will at S74 navigate the inspector to a reject screen, and a reject reason will be selected, as described above In relation to Fig. 15, Depending upon the reject reason at S76, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the glazer at S78 in the re-work cell, or to send the order back at S80 for a secondary inspection.

If the frame quality is judged to be acceptable, the inspector selects the "Yes" button which will at S82 navigate the inspector to the third check screen, termed "Check 3: Frame Setup" in Fig. 2. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 7, the inspector is prompted at S84 to perform a check that the lenses are secure in the frame and that the frame has been setup correctly and a pass/fail decision is taken at S86. If the frame setup is deemed to be unacceptable, the inspector selects the "No" button which will at S88 navigate the inspector to a reject screen _t and a reject reason will be selected _s as described above in relation to Fig. 15. Depending upon the reject reason at S90, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the glazer at S92 in the re-work cell, or to send the order back at S94 for a secondary inspection. If the frame setup is judged to be acceptable, the inspector selects the "Yes" button which will at S98 navigate the inspector to the fourth check screen, termed "Check 4; Bath" in Fig. 2, A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig, 8. As shown in Fig, 8, the inspector is prompted at S98 to confirm that they cleaned the spectacles and a pass/fall decision is taken at S100, If the inspector has not cleaned the spectacles, the inspector selects the "Ho" button which will at S102 navigate the inspector to a reject screen, and a reject reason will be selected, as described above in relation to Fig. 15. Depending upon the reject reason at S104, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the glazer at S108 in the re-work celi, or to send the order back at S108 for a secondary inspection.

If the spectacles have been cleaned, the inspector selects the "Yes" button which will at S110 navigate the inspector to the fifth check screen, termed "Check 5: Glazing Quality" in Fig, 2, A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig, 9. As shown in Fig. 9, the inspector is prompted S112 perform a check of the quality of the glazing and judge whether the overall lens quality is to an acceptable standard and a pass/fall decision is taken at S114. If the glazing quality is deemed to be unasceplable, the Inspector selects the "No" button which will at S118 navigate the inspector to a reject screen, and a reject reason will be selected, as described above in relation to Fig, 15, Depending upon the reject reason at S118, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the giazer at S120 in the re-work call, or to send the order back at S124 for a secondary inspection.

If the glazing quality is deemed to be acceptable, the inspector selects the Tes" button which will at S128 navigate the inspector to the sixth check screen, termed "Check 8: Lens Type" In Fig. 3. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 10. As shown in Rg. 10, the inspector is prompted at S128 with four different options listed on the screen. The inspector is then prompted 130 to positively validate that the order has been manufactured with the correct lens. The inspector will then select the lens from a choice three, namely single vision lenses, bifocal or varifooal lenses.

Selecting the correct lens will navigate the inspector to the next check screen, which is dependent on whether the order specified any lens additions or tints. Alternatively, if the wrong lens is selected at S132 a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector they have selected the wrong lens, and enquiring if they wish to reject the order. Additionally selecting the option "none of these" shown in Fig. 10 will dispfay a pop-up advising the inspector that they have selected "none of these", and enquiring if they wish to reject the order.

If the inspector confirms that the order is to be rejected a reject reason will then be entered, via a reject screen as shown in Fig. 15. In this case, where the spectacles have been manufactured with the wrong lens, it wouid be appropriate to select this reason at S134, and a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector to send the order to a secondary inspection.

At S138, one of two new screens is then prompted to the inspector to further check that the lens is correct. Depending on whether the lens includes any additions or tints dictates the "checks" the inspector will then have to complete.

Selecting the correct lens will at S138 and S148 navigate the inspector to the seventh or eighth check screens termed the "Check 7: Tint Screen" or "Check 8: Addition Screen" in Fig. 3. If the order contains a tint, or the order has neither a tint or addition, the inspector is prompted at S140 to positively validate this by checking the lens against the order and confirming whether this is true or false at S142. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 11.

If the wrong lens tint is selected at S144 a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector they have selected the wrong tint, and enquiring if they wish to reject the order. If the inspector confirms that the order is to be rejected a reject reason will then be entered, via a reject screen as shown in Fig. 15. in this case, where the spectacles have been manufactured with the wrong tint, it would be appropriate to select this reason, and a pop-up will be displayed at S148 advising the inspector to send the order to a secondary inspection.

Sf the order specifies an addition, as opposed to a tint, the inspector is prompted at S150 to positively validate this by checking the lens against the order and confirming whether this is true or false at S152. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 12,

If the wrong lens addition is seiected at S154 a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector they have selected the wrong addition, and enquiring if they wish to reject the order. If the inspector confirms that the order is to be rejected a reject reason will then be entered, via a reject screen as shown in Fig, 15. In this case, where the spectacles have been manufactured with the wrong addition, it would be appropriate to select this reason, and a pop-up will be displayed advising the inspector to send the order to a secondary inspection at SI 58.

At S158, for bifocal or varifocal lenses, the inspector then checks the alignment of the lenses, In addition to generaf lens fitting.

Selecting the correct tens addition or tint will at S160 navigate the inspector to the next check screen, the ninth check screen, termed "Check 9; Lens Alignment" in Fig. 3. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 13. As shown in Fig. 13, the inspector is prompted at S182 to perform a check of the quality of the lens alignment and a pass/fail decision is taken at S164. If the lens alignment is deemed to be unacceptable, the inspector selects the "No" button which will at S186 navigate the inspector to a reject screen, and a reject reason will be selected, as described above in relation to Fig. 15. Depending upon the reject reason selected at S188, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the g!azer at S170 in the re-work cell, or to send the order back at Sill for a secondary inspection.

If the lens alignment is judged to be acceptable, the inspector selects the "Yes" button which will at S174 navigate the inspector to the tenth and final check screen, termed "Check 10: Order Confirmation ¹ ' in Fig, 3. A screenshot of this screen is shown in Fig. 14. As shown in Fig. 14, the inspector is prompted at S178 to confirm that the correct spectacles are ready to be shipped and a pass/fail decision is taken at S178. If the "No" button is elected, this will at S180 navigate the Inspector to a reject screen, and a reject reason will be selected, as described above in relation to Fig. 15. Depending upon the reject reason selected at S182, a pop-up will then be displayed advising the inspector to either send the order back to the glazer at S184 in the re-work cell, or to send the order back at S186 for a secondary inspection.

If the inspector confirms that the order is correct, the inspector selects the Tes" button at S188 and the order will be shipped.

Fig. 4 shows the steps of a further inspection procedure, termed a secondary inspection that is carried out depending upon the reject reason either selected by the glazer during manufacture, or the quality inspector during the visual quality control inspection, on the reject screen of Fig, 15. This allows a secondary inspection to be performed before the Job is ultimately accepted or rejected.

When a job is passed to secondary Inspection at S190, following a rejection by the glazer or quality inspector, the system prompts the secondary inspector to scan the tray containing the manufactured spectacles and its machine readable unique order number is scanned at S192 using a barcode scanner. The job, along with its failure reason, then is displayed at S194 In a pop-up window. The secondary inspector then decides at S196 whether to perform a secondary inspection of the job at S198, or to simply reject the order at S204, based predominateiy on the reject reason.

If the secondary inspector elects to perform a secondary inspection of the job a new screen is created displaying a summary of the visual inspection, as described above In relation to Figs. 2 and 3. The secondary inspector is then able to re-execute any of the checks simply by clicking on the relevant link. f, after performing a secondary inspection of the failed check at S200 the inspector is satisfied that the spectacles are acceptable the order can then be passed back to visual inspection at S208 or they can be shipped.

If the spectacles fall the secondary inspection the order is rejected at 5204 and a new order is manufactured at S206.

Fig, 16 shows further detail of those steps of Fig. 1 in which the system calls a focimeter to measure the optical properties of the lenses and compares its measured values against the consumer's prescription held in the central database, With the present invention, an inexpensive manual focimeter is utilised to check whether the manufactured spectacles meet the required prescription. This is undertaken by interfacing the manual focimeter through Its printer port. Instead of printing out the measurements obtained from the focimeter and placing such printout: in the tray for the inspector to check against the original order, the procedure described in Fig. 16 shows that the measured information is taken through the instrument's printer port, via the production server, onto an SQL database which then automatically verifies whether the lenses are within an acceptable tolerance, or not. As shown in Fig. 18, the system prompts the glazer at S212 to scan the tray containing the manufactured spectacles and its machine readable unique order number is scanned using a barcode scanner. The spectacles are then placed in the fodmeter and a measurement of the optica! properties is undertaken, The system then cafls the foclmeter at S214 through Its printer port, and the measurement information is taken at S210.

The optical properties of the lenses are measured using the focimeter at S210. The focimeter measures the sphere power, cylinder power, the axis and prismatic power of the spectacle lens. The interpupiilary distance is also measured. The focimeter simultaneously measures 108 multiple points within the nosepiece area providing an accurate and reliable measurement of the prescription.

The unique order number and the measurement readings from the focimeter are then sent to the production server at S128.

At S218, the production server uses a compare method to compare the readings from the focimeter with the prescription in the database. It will compare measured fields against the fields recorded In the order and uses ISO tolerances to decide whether at S200 the lenses pass or fail. If the obtained measurements are within tolerance, the order is considered to have been successfully glazed and is then passed for visual quality control inspection at S222, as described in detail in relation to Figs. 2 and 3,

If the lenses are outside of prescribed tolerance, a pop-up will be displayed at S224 advising the glazer that the order is not within acceptable tolerances, and to either re-scan and re-measure the order at S228, or to reject the order, using the pop-up window shown in Fig. 15. The order can then be either sent to a secondary inspection or rejected at S228.

The focimeter is interfaced using the USB port on a tablet running the application software. Drivers that are installed in the foclmeter will allow the tablet and focimeter to communicate with each other through the focimeter's printer port.

The application will call the focimeter using commands specified by the manufacturer. The focimeter will then send the readings to the application and will compare these measurements with the consumer order on the database. Once the focimeter has sent tbe measured readings to the application al S210, the application will communicate with tbe web server housing the SQL database. At S218, the application will pass the order number and the readings to the web server housing the SQL database.

Figure 17 illustrates a typical platform on which the quality inspection method according to the present invention is implemented. The illustrated system comprises a barcode scanner 250 and a focimeter 252 communicatively coupled to a tablet computer 254 which runs the application through a browser. In particular, the focimeter 252 is interfaced to the tablet computer 254 via its printer port. The tablet computer 254 is further communicatively coupled to an SQL database 258 via a remote web server 258.

Upon Inspection, the barcode scanner 250 is used to read the unique machine readable product identifier of the lens being measured and/ or the unique log in if the individual glazer, these readings are then sent to the application residing on the tabiet computer 254. The unique machine readable product identifier is then sent to the SQL database 258 where it is used to extract the corresponding optical prescription.

The optical properties of the lens are then measured by the focimeter 252, the measurement readings from the focimeter 252 are then sent to the application residing on the tablet computer 254 where they are forwarded to the SQL database for comparison. The SQL database 258 compares the readings recorded by the focimeter 252 with the optical prescription stored in the SQL database 258 to verify that the lenses have been manufactured having the correct optical prescription,

ISO tolerances are used to decide whether the lenses pass or fail. The tolerances will be as per the tolerances currently used in the manual process, they wiil be systemised and converted into a database table. At S220, the server will then pass the result back to the application via another web service. The standard used for determination of the tolerances is BS EN ISO 21987 : 2009,

Various alterations and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, although particular embodiments refer to implementing the present invention in the manufacture of prescription spectacles, this is in no way intended to be

IS limiting as, in use, the present invention can be utilised in the manufacture and inspection of bespoke products.