Transition Time

Transition Time

Dave Cole leads the North American division for a company in Pinellas Park that makes coatings for eyeglass lenses

that transform them from clear to shaded in the sun.

Each year a demographic grows that should help Dave Cole's company in Pinellas Park: People age and their eyes weaken.

So Cole's company, Transitions Optical Inc., has a chance to sell more of its coatings, which it puts on eyeglass lenses.

The coating automatically turns the clear lenses to different shades of gray or brown as light conditions change. That protects the person from ultraviolet rays and glare, reducing eyestrain and fatigue and guarding people from age-related diseases of the eye and skin around the eye.

Still, despite the aging population, Transitions faces a flat U.S. eyeglass market. It also deals with an awareness challenge. People retain outdated 1980s images of photo-chromic lenses being heavy, clunky and dark; not clear, light, hip and sleek.

"We need more awareness and understanding of the product," says Cole, managing director for the North American business for Transitions.

Transitions is a privately held company, a joint venture between lens maker Essilor International and PPG Industries started in 1990. The venture became the first company to successfully commercialize a photochromic lens. The Pinellas Park plant began in 1991.

Eyeglass lenses used to be mainly glass. Then Pittsburg Plate Glass invented a plastic for eyeglass lenses called CR39. PPG plastic lenses began to overtake glass, except in photochromatic lenses, lenses that change color.

Corning developed a lens that changed when a person went outside. PPG attempted to do it in plastic. It did market research and began to test market a product, partnering with Essilor. This led to the joint venture called Transitions Optical, which started with less than 50 employees.

Today, Transitions employs 450 in Pinellas Park and 1,200 worldwide. The strategy was not to sell lenses directly, but to combine its lens-coating technology with lenses made by manufacturers that compete with Essilor.

"We wanted to compete, but be inclusive in the marketplace," Cole says.

Transitions wanted to avoid the early business model mistake of Apple Computer. When Apple developed the Macintosh in the 1980s, it had the friendliest operating system. But Apple decided to sell the computer, not partner with personal computer manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Microsoft did partner with computer makers. Apple was not part of the PC operating system. So it became a minor player in the computer business.

"We did the opposite," Cole says. "We were independent enough to compete." That led to a rapid introduction of lenses around the world, including Europe, Asia and the United States.

Transition spends its time researching and developing new products, educating vendors on their performance and building the brand.

To help that, it created an education campaign for younger consumers and signed a four-year sponsorship deal this year with the Professional Golfers Association to be the official eyewear of the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Those tours this year will host 108 events in 10 countries.

Its Web site slideshow displays a broad demographic of people in Transitions lenses, including children, 40-somethings and attractive young adults.

Transitions has revamped its products six times so they more quickly change hues, becoming as dark as sunglasses, yet remaining clear inside.

"We've made great strides in those areas," Cole says.

The Pinellas Park facility makes the Transitions coating. Nearly a dozen lens manufacturers worldwide make about 100 different lenses in different materials, designs and brand names to Transitions' specifications. Transitions prides itself in those partnerships. It works to secure the right distribution flow and relationships and helps build business downstream.

Transitions also has production facilities in Ireland, Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines as well as international sales offices.

Its compounded annual revenues are growing about 20% a year. It is especially seeing strong sales, at above 50% a year, in India, China, Eastern Europe and Czechoslovakia.

In the future, Transitions sees some opportunities to expand into other color-changing products.

"We see an opportunity to leverage our technology into other areas," Cole says.

- Dave Szymanski