Italiano 
While technology is constantly evolving, bringing about changes in production processes, the importance of the human factor remains a constant, especially in high-end manufacturing. In the eyewear industry, there’s no substitute for the manual skill of the technician. We discussed this with Paola Ciet, Production Manager at D.F.
Hi Paola, can you explain the D.F. production process to us?
When a designer has an idea, the first thing he does is put it down on paper. Next comes the feasibility study. For many, not every idea can be made into eyewear. At D.F. it’s a given. When they ask us «Can you make this drawing into a pair of glasses?», our answer is: «Always». D.F. has the creativity and know-how to make it happen.
How important is the “handmade” aspect of your production process?
It’s key to everything. After the feasibility study, the next step is to plan the different production stages; it is precisely at this point, as the idea becomes a process, that the handmade aspect comes into play.
Once you decide how to produce a piece, you understand how to create the mould and the equipment you’ll need to make it. It takes a great deal of creativity to design and produce everything you need to reach your goal. But it’s still not enough. In many processes, the mould is actually only the starting point; it’s the manual skill of the technician that leads to the success of the end product.
What takes the longest during production?
I recently looked at the statistics and saw that the thing that takes the most time in a new project is the bending: it requires a large number of tests and constant interfacing with the client. It’s very challenging. The most critical bends are the bridge, endpieces and the curve of the front (forming) because they help ensure the lenses are equidistant, thus guaranteeing perfect vision at all times: this is where the skill of the technician comes in.
The technician guides the machine as it bends the component, taking into consideration the flexibility of the material and its tendency to return to its original shape ever so slightly. Only a percentage of the bend is defined by the mould; the rest is down to the technician’s skill. The most fascinating thing is that, even if part of the process is manual, the end result is always identical to the original drawing. Or rather, the end result is only possible thanks to this manual intervention. It’s hard to believe, but in his instructions, the toolmaker indicates exactly how the technician should hold his hand to produce a certain bend, how he should place his thumb in a specific spot on the temple or hold the front in a certain way.
Can’t you use technology to achieve the same result?
Yes you can, but the manual skill of the technician is irreplaceable. Because even when we use the same material, it comes from different sheets which have different degrees of stiffness. The operator works the component, then checks the drawing to see whether the result is the same. If it isn’t, he has to correct the part to ensure it matches the drawing. These corrections are done by hand.
I suppose the process could be more automated but intervening manually means we can be more flexible and make the necessary corrections to keep quality standards consistently high. At D.F. we produce metal components for high-end eyewear, we’re not in the business of mass producing. Factories which make products exclusively for catalogues have a drawing and use it to produce an infinite number of components; the whole process is automated but the upshot is that every temple is the same, every product is the same and whoever buys it knows what they are getting. Here at D.F. all our items are custom-made.
What other advantages does your production process offer, apart from its highly custom approach?
Less waste. When parts are mass produced, the number of defects is higher. Crooked components, holes, loose screws… when your process is completely automated, you don’t get the chance to correct errors. With our production process, we have greater control and therefore fewer defects. The parts you order are delivered exactly the way you want them.
