ANNUAL REPORT 2004 - Luxottica Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2004 - Luxottica Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2004 - Luxottica Group
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
LUXOTTICA GROUP IN <strong>2004</strong><br />
<strong>Luxottica</strong> <strong>Group</strong> offers not only the best brands, with<br />
an array of models that responds to the specific<br />
needs observed in each market, but also delivers and<br />
presents them in the timeframe and according to the<br />
methods that maximize their specific value. It also<br />
provides clients with all-important pre- and post-sales<br />
services.<br />
This approach helps wholesale clients operate under<br />
ideal circumstances, increasing the market potential<br />
for premium optical products and services.<br />
MANUFACTURING<br />
In <strong>2004</strong> <strong>Luxottica</strong> <strong>Group</strong> continued its ongoing pursuit<br />
of an increasingly efficient manufacturing structure.<br />
To this end, <strong>Luxottica</strong> <strong>Group</strong>’s main objectives<br />
continue to be optimizing the cost of production,<br />
raising the level of customer service, and continuously<br />
improving product quality through research with new<br />
materials and manufacturing methods.<br />
With regard to controlling production costs, the various<br />
manufacturing entities within the <strong>Group</strong> already<br />
specialized in specific production technology aimed at<br />
maximizing efficiency, increased the development of<br />
staff training on task management and production cost<br />
analysis. The purchasing office has, furthermore, been<br />
reorganized, transferring the responsibility of warehouse<br />
restocking from buyers to the planning area.<br />
16<br />
Over the course of the year, significant resources were<br />
invested in studying new, even more reliable quality<br />
control procedures of internal and external production;<br />
the same process was carried out for the control and<br />
inspection of raw materials before entering production.<br />
Growth forecasts for injection-mould production led<br />
the <strong>Group</strong> to launch a research program aimed at<br />
increasing production capacity of moulds, in terms of<br />
quantity and quality.<br />
Customer service has always been a major focus of<br />
the <strong>Group</strong>. As a result, today <strong>Luxottica</strong> <strong>Group</strong> enjoys<br />
product delivery times and post-sales service<br />
standards that are likely the best in the industry.<br />
In the course of <strong>2004</strong>, increased product turnover due<br />
to acceleration in consumer purchasing trends<br />
highlighted the need to drastically reduce planning<br />
time in order to maintain service standards without<br />
increasing stock levels.<br />
With regard to manufacturing plants: a new information<br />
technology platform was introduced at Tristar, the<br />
<strong>Group</strong>’s China-based manufacturing plant; Gazzada,<br />
the plant that had been purchased in connection with<br />
the licensing agreement with the Versace and Versus<br />
brands, was closed and its production transferred to<br />
other structures, to improve efficiency and in line with<br />
the <strong>Group</strong>’s objective to concentrate specific<br />
manufacturing technologies at each plant.