L'Essentiel de l'Optique, "20 years on the road: Eyes-Road"

Article published in Essential Optics of December 2022 (page 27).

If it did not exist, it would have to be invented: the Eyes-Road platform brought the circulation of data (catalogues, invoices, delivery notes, etc.) between manufacturers and opticians in full modernity. EDI solution for 20 years, it is for the optician a saving of time, reliability, and the assurance of always having access to the latest innovations.

Whether you are an optician or a supplier, Eyes-Road has been supporting your daily computerized data exchange for 20 years now. It was the first truly community initiative of the optical sector, usually more inclined to work each in his compartment. The perfect example of successful pooling.

Through the Eyes-Road platform, contactology laboratories, eyewear manufacturers and glassmakers can distribute their catalogs and coupons to optical stores and/or distributors. deliveries and their invoices. Opticians, from their store management software, can download the catalogs of their choice, issue orders or information, or even receive all types of dematerialized documents from their suppliers.

However, it was not easy for everyone to accept this trusted third party from the IT world. The feat was therefore not small to succeed. In particular, Essilor had to be convinced. 20 years later, the European EIG Eyes-Road represents 12,500 connected optical stores, ie 80% who consult manufacturers' electronic catalogs, 60% who place regular orders (ie 8,600 points of sale). Eleven million orders per year: 78% lenses, 13% frames, 7% stock lenses.

The dematerialization of data is a multiplier of efficiency, reliability, rationality and productivity. A tremendous help in creating value, at a time when every reservoir of development counts.

For 10 years Eyes-Road rested on the shoulders of a single man, Philippe Cellier. The team has now grown to four employees. The first technical and standardization phase (GDPR) has been successfully completed. Now Eyes-Road has the task of integrating the new services offered by the suppliers. However, the future is uncertain. Real-time sales information, essential for the community, is still not possible even if the
technical solution is ready: manufacturers prefer to go into the dark rather than pool their data. The commands are also becoming more complex, with ever more variables to integrate. “ In the future , explains Philippe Cellier, two paths are possible: either everyone seeks their own standards, and that's the end of our intermediation, but it's also a much slower process; either we stay in a community strategy by looking for the lowest common denominators that make everyone move forward . “

Subject to several certifications, in particular on the remote transmission of health data and on cybersecurity, Eyes-Road is today a standardized, robust, reliable, proven platform. In order to help the ecosystem to better appropriate it, webinars and didactic videos supplement the publication of a judicious " Primer of EDI " with the programmatic subtitle: "No longer being afraid of EDI”.

Press relations: Vincent Lepape – v.lepape@eyes-road.com