You may have seen this article in last Saturday’s edition of The Straits Times. 
Nanyang Optical is soliciting for new ideas and concepts through NLB’s Creative Industries Xchange (CIX) programme and you are invited to submit ideas or business proposals based on any of these requirements:
1. Opticals – any new design or material which will add value and enable Nanyang Optical to stand out from the competition. Note: Nanyang already has an eco-friendly line called LinkSkin which uses recycled material (see: http://www.nanyang.com.sg ).
2. Green initiative – any new idea or concept that complements Nanyang Optical’s eco-friendly positioning as “Singapore’s first eco-friendly eyewear store”.
3. Marketing - There are two tracks to this:
(a) Any new way to market its products & services, e.g. via comics, film, animation, etc.
(b) Also, should Nanyang Optical adopt a holistic eco-friendly versus maintaining an eco-friendly product line and space in its retail outlets
If you are keen to work with Nanyang Optical , please send an email to Damien_Wang@nlb.gov.sg by Friday, 4 Dec 2009 with the following details:
1. IDEA: Please provide a brief summary of your idea or business proposal. Do indicate if it addresses one or more requirements (Opticals, Green initiative or Marketing).
2. CLUSTER: You may wish to form your own team or seek potential partners through the CIX programme to develop existing ideas or generate new ideas.
(a) If you already have a team, please tell us something about yourselves.
(b) If you would like to seek working partners, please let us know what are the types of people you would like to team up with (e.g. programmers, graphic designers) and we will try our best to match you with other applicants.
Participation in CIX is free-of-charge and would involve small to large group interactions to develop your initial ideas. The National Library Board would also be provide you with research support should the need arise.
This programme is expected to run until the end of January 2010, when the Clusters would pitch their ideas to Nanyang Optical for their assessment. Successful clusters would then get the opportunity to work with Nanyang Optical to develop their ideas for the market.
About Nanyang Optical:
Nanyang Optical is a well-established company with more than 30 years of experience in optical retail, wholesale and manufacturing. They are one of the Singapore’s largest optical retail chain with a portfolio more than 20 outlets spanning across Singapore, Indonesia and China. These include their wholly owned subsidiary — Alexis Eyewear Boutiques and franchises.
The latest initiative for Nanyang Optical is their aim to reduce adverse environmental impacts and advocate corporate social responsibility and awareness. As a result they have decided to embark on converting to “GREEN” eyewear shops by launching eco-friendly eyewear made of recycled materials and implementing a full circle recycling system. Their aim is to provide the eco-friendly eyewear to the world through collaboration with partners and distribution networks.
About CIX
The Creative Industries Xchange (CIX) is a platform for business owners and creative professionals to come together to conceive and collaborate on fresh, new business ideas. Through business-matching sessions, participants can explore creative solutions, innovative business opportunities and leverage on cross-industry experience.
Interim proposals
Two ad hoc clusters were formed last month, and these were some of the interesting ideas they came up with in a couple of hours:
Cluster 1: ‘Airfix’ spectacles: Cluster 1 proposed an a DIY spectacle kit which takes a leaf from plastic scale models from UK manufacturer Airfix, and features the construction and finishing of the spectacle from a flat-packed kit manufactured through plastic injection moulding. The slim packaging also makes it handy as an emergency pair of glasses while travelling, while the ease of production makes it feasible for Nanyang Optical to introduce new designs from time to time. It is also possible to sell the basic kits + upgrades online. Issues raised by Nanyang Optical:
- Will travellers prefer this to simply bringing an extra pair of spectacles?
- Do customers really want to construct their own spectacles?
- Who is the target audience for this product?
Cluster 2 proposed customisable spectacles using a modular system. The customer selects the desired parts which will be assembled at Nanyang Optical outlets. This is supported by a facial recognition and measurement online application generates previews for various models for the customer. Benefit of this proposal would be the reduction of inventory coupled with the offering of personalisation services for customers (i.e. mass customisation). This will appeal to medium to high end customers who prefer made-to-measure products and who prefer to be serviced in-store rather than online. Issues raised by Nanyang Optical:
- Profit margin for selling parts of a spectacle will be low, so most shops do not sell parts.
- Customisable spectacles already exist in the industry.
- Fitting of spectacles require trained optometrists. Spectacle shops pay the highest salaries for retail staff as optometrists are qualified professionals, versus those who sell clothes or shoes.
- It may be more feasible and cost-effective to operate a mobile fitting studio with expensive precision equipment to make house-calls for high-end customers rather than doing it online.
