Ian Handricks

Cornea and Contact Lens Society 18th March 2012

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +1300

On 18th March 2012 Ian Handricks was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Cornea and Contact lens Society in recognition of outstanding contribution to contact lens practice in New Zealand

Source: Cornea and Contact Lens Society 18th March 2012

The Photographic Society of NZ National Convention 2011

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Ian was a guest speaker at the The Photographic Society of NZ National Convention 2011 held at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland 2011.

Source: The Photographic Society of NZ National Convention 2011

Change of focus on contact lens - NZ Herald, 19th March 1993

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1200

"Mr Handricks takes a closer look at one of the new bifocal lenses",

NZ Herald,
19th March 1993,

Change of focus on contact lens,

By KEVIN TOWNSEND,

An Auckland company and Government scientists have smoothed a problem with bifocal contact lenses and opened the way to potential earnings of tens of millions of dollars a year.

The company, Hirstlens, and scientists from the Government owned Industrial Research, say their design will have a huge effect on the world market for contact lenses.

Most people over 40 need reading glasses but bifocal contact lenses have had problems such as expense and the blurring of vision.

Blurring

Using specially developed computer programmes to control a lathe that can cut the lenses to an accuracy of 0.000lmm (one micron), the Auckland team produced a lens which gets rid of blurring.

The lens is also comfortable to wear and will probably cost little more than a conventional lens.

The man who first thought of the idea for the lens. Hirstlens joint managing director, Mr lan Handricks, said one previous bifocal design had used a second lens within the main lens.

Different

However, it could cause blurring because it had a join line. In the new bifocal. The join line has been smoothed out.

"We've found a way of getting two different powers without a blurred zone." When reading. The wearer looks through the bottom part of the lens which is pushed up over the pupil by the bottom eyelid as the eye swivels down.

The new lens was developed In consultation with optometrists and clinical fine-tuning of the design will continue for most of this year.

Market

It is expected that the first lens will be available next year.

Mr Handricks said the long-term commercial possibilities of the new design were still being examined but, with five million wearers of contact lenses in the United States alone, the potential market was huge.

"At this stage we have no plans to send this technology overseas. Although the interest from overseas is very high."

Source: Change of focus on contact lens - NZ Herald, 19th March 1993

Lens pioneer turns eye to computer wizardry - NZ Herald, 15th February 1997

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1200

"COMPUTER GAMES: Ian Handricks, of Beyond Imagination, with one of the company’s computer imaging packages",

NZ Herald,
15th February 1997,

Lens pioneer turns eye to computer wizardry,

Diversification into developing a range of high-technology computer products by contact lens manufacturer Hirstlens (NZ) is creating opportunities for the establishment of a variety of small businesses.

Since its establishment in 1942, Hirstlens has been at the forefront of innovation in lens. It was responsible for the research which led to the development of the bifocal contact lens.

In 1994, Hirstlens established .a subsidiary called Beyond Imagination, which has become a centre for the development of high-technology computer products.

The flagship product of Beyond Imagination is Photocraft, a personal computer-based system that is able to restore damaged or faded photographs. It has become the basis of many successful small businesses in New Zealand, Australia and England.

Now, Beyond Imagination is seeking to interest people in establishing businesses using its other products, including instant translation of documents into languages, including Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, French and German. .

It has also developed computer programs that can write, record and play back music with orchestration and prepare a manuscript from notes played on an instrument.

Recently, the company put a whole rugby league game on to a computer disc, a technique to enable coaches to study games and manipulate the action to show players their mistakes or successes and what might have happened if they played differently.

A joint managing director, Ian Handricks, said Beyond Imagination was not interested in moving boxes. "Too many do that now. I’m interested in what comes out of the box."

Mr Handricks said Beyond Imagination could provide people wanting to start business based on the technology with a complete turnkey package, including training, hardware and a business plan, to take to the bank manager.

Source: Lens pioneer turns eye to computer wizardry - NZ Herald, 15th February 1997

Money, jobs from old memories - NZ Herald, 4th April 2002

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

"OLD AND NEW: Ian Handricks with the software he designed for photo restoration, which has been taken up by an American company, creating jobs here.",

NZ Herald,
4th April 2002,

Money, jobs from old memories,

A taste for nostalgia and restoring old memories will soon be funding 100 new jobs and millions of dollars in overseas earnings for a small Auckland company. Glentield firm Photopages Global, which employs five people, specialises in the digital restoration of old damaged photos.

Thanks to the deep pockets and enthusiasm of three US-based venture capitalists, the Photopages name will soon be seen in photo shops and stores across North America.

In a deal announced yesterday by Trade New Zealand, consumers will soon be able take their old photos into any one of thousands of agents across Canada and the United States. They will then be digitally scanned, sent to New Zealand’s Photopages lab, where they will be restored using software developed by company founder and owner Ian Handricks.

This software automates a lot of the procedures normally done on old photos. Once restored, the picture is electronically sent back to the Photopages agent, where it is printed out onto photographic paper and given back to the customer. " Handricks said there was a growing gap in the photographic market "in the middle" between film-based photography and advanced digital methods.

Digital restoration of old printed photographs was one way of bridging this gap. Photo restoration in North America was something of a craft industry, with some operators taking weeks or months to do the job. Photopages promised an overnight service at a fixed price. It could colourise black and white photos and restore seriously damaged pictures that other operators could not.

Once the deal swings into operation, work volumes at Photopages are predicted to increase from the 25-30 photos being restored each day to several thousand. Handricks said the whole market of giving restored photos as presents was lying untapped in North America and Europe.

The deal has been structured so Handricks keeps all the intellectual property rights covering the software and technology used in the photo restoration business. As well as money, the US backers brought marketing and advertising expertise that would soon be taking the Photopages name to Europe as well.

Trade New Zealand said it had been working with PGL for the past two years, helping it to set up in Australia and the UK. Account manager Dominic Cavanagh said Trade NZ brought an American IT journalist to New Zealand last year, showing him several local IT firms.

This journalist "who became quite evangelical about what he saw" according to Trade NZ, then introduced Investment New Zealand, the Government’s investment promotion agency, to US investor Ed Bernstein, who then flew over here, met Handricks, and decided to invest.

Neither Trade NZ nor Handricks will say how much money is being invested by Bernstein and two other investors, though they stressed that advertising, marketing and distribution skills were being provided by the US investors. The deal with Photopages is a five-year arrangement, with a 10-year renewal provision.

Source: Money, jobs from old memories - NZ Herald, 4th April 2002

United States Patent No. 4,619,082 - 28th October 1986

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

United States Patent
Ian L. Handricks

Patent Number:       4,619,082
Date of Patent:     Oct. 28, 1986

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A CONTACT LENS

INVENTOR:     Ian L. Handricks, Chalgrove, England
Assignee:    Contact Lens Supplies Limited, England
Appl. No.:        663,780
Filed:               Oct. 23, 1984

Foreign Application Priority Data
Oct. 24, 1983 [GB] United Kingdom     8328365

Int. CU                        B24B 1/00
U.S. CI.                      Sl/284 R; 51/216 LP
Field of Search ,     51/284 R, 284 E, 326, 51/216 LP, 217 L, 229, 237 R, 277; 264/1.1, 2.7; 82/1 C, ll

References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
1,911,153 5/1933 Hill                   51/284
3.030,859 4/1962 Elliot, Jr.         51/284
3.064.531 11/1962 Bullock         51/284
3,100,955 8/1963 Kratt               51/237 R
3,662,040 5/1972 Urbach etal    51/284
Primary Examiner                         Frederick R. Schmidt
Assistant Examiner                      Robert A. Rose
Attorney, Agent, or Firm       Welsh & Katz, Ltd.

ABSTRACT
A contact lens is manufactured by a method involving machining a first face and a reference surface on a blank; mounting the blank in a work holder adapted for accurate mounting on a lathe such that the blank is held with its first face accurately positioned relative to a datum point on the lathe; and machining a second face on the blank. Such method avoids the need for skilled operatives and enables easy manufacture of accurately dimensioned contact lenses.

Source: United States Patent No. 4,619,082 - 28th October 1986

Precision Vision - New Zealand Computer Scene - June 1989

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

New Zealand Computer Scene, June 1989

Precision Vision

By Brcnda Lobb

Right here in New Zealand we have the most advanced machinery - the Rolls Royce of the industry - for making contact lenses. Computer aided design and manufacture makes possible production of lenses of unprecedented accuracy.

CAD systems enable lenses to be designed in a fraction of the time taken by manual design, says Hirstlens Divisional Manager, Ian Handricks, and custom-built computer-controlled machinery gives accuracy to the micron level in lens production.

Contact lens manufacture has been a cottage industry; lenses were designed and made by hand, by traditional, rather than "Mickey Mouse" methods, says Handricks. "To design a lens, you had to make one, break it in half to get a cross section and then manually measure its thickness at various points across the lens. Then to draw one, you had to get a five or six metre length of string, weight it with a pencil and swing it to get an idea of the changes in arc."

More Accurate Design and Manufacture . . . Using CAD, Handricks has written programs which, when radius and diameter pairs are keyed in, draws a finished lens arc, accurate to many decimal places.

It is no longer necessary to manufacture a lens to do the metrology necessary for production. And together with an international team including other New Zealanders, he has designed and built computer-controlled equipment to make lenses. "We are the only manufacturers in the Southern V Hemisphere who have this fast, accurate technology", claims Handricks. … in Less Time

Contact lenses are made from little plastic buttons which are cut, shaped and then polished to fit the cornea of the eye. The cornea is not a symmetrical spherical shape but is an elliptical shape which can be matched only by a lathe cutting off-centre so that the resulting lens exactly fits the cornea.

This is a complex process, done in several stages. It takes skilled staff four or five years to learn to make a lens by hand, says Handricks and production is necessarily painstaking. But with computerised equipment it takes only six minutes to cut a lens. Old Hardware, the Latest Technology

Most of Hirstlens’ soft lenses are now made on two new computerised systems, called Polytech 2000 - by one skilled operator, where it took ten before. The system uses quite archaic technology: a Z80-based computer running under the CPM operating system and using an 8 " floppy disk drive, the Polytech 2000 has home-made motherboards and some 80,000 lines of Turbo Pascal code to control the lathe. It automatically generates exact and repeatable peripheral curves, sets the positions of the lathe and senses the beginning and the end of the lens; the blocking method has been patented world-wide, says Handricks. The system produces a very polished finish, although Hirstlens hand-polish every lens at the end as well.

Because the method is clean and uses no heat, there is no damage to the surface of the button, and it’s economical: "We get 50,000 passes out of a single cutting tool. We’d be lucky to get 3000 out of a manual cutting tool," says Handricks. The equipment takes up much less space on the factory floor than the many stages and staff of a manual system, too. Prescription details are stored for reproduction, and odd or unusual prescriptions are handled as easily as regular prescriptions. The computer screen shows the machine status at all times. It’s much easier to learn than the old manual methods, says Handricks.

Computer aided design and manufacture has ushered the art of making contact lenses into the 1990s - and perhaps frees vision technologists to pursue further exciting ideas. Watch this space!

Source: Precision Vision - New Zealand Computer Scene - June 1989

See your new smile without leaving your seat - East and ays Courier 14th January 2009

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

See your new smile without leaving your seat

East and Bays Courier 14th January 2009

Considering having some dentistry work done? Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic mirror to see how it will all turn out? Like all appearance cosmetic procedures you always wonder how you will look afterwards, and was it worth the money spent. Luckily, new imaging technology developed here in New Zealand by Ian Handricks, is now available for you to see the final result.

Tooth-Pix allows you to see the results of your smile makeover before you even go near the dentist chair. Tooth-Pix Ltd has developed software and imaging techniques which allows you and your dental professional to send in a photograph of your smile and receive a back a customised simulation of what cosmetic dentistry will be able to do for you. Previous attempts to provide this service involved unrealistic "cutting and pasting" perfect smiles on top of a patient’s existing smile.

Tooth-Pix technology uses the skills of qualified cosmetic dentists combined with exceptional techniques to modify the image of your existing teeth to provide a realistic and relevant final result. Tooth-Pix is incredibly useful for you to help decide what to do with your smile, it also gives peace of mind, knowing what to expect and confirms you will be delighted with the end result.

Tooth-Pix has had a dramatic rise to success since launching at the Biennial Scientific Symposium of the NZ Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Dental professionals have signed to use Tooth-Pix from all over the world, from countries as diverse as Egypt, the USA, Germany, Belgium, India, the UK, Australia and of course, New Zealand.

In recognition of the potential benefits to cosmetic dentistry, the Kiwi developers have been invited to lecture and present their technology at leading universities in the United States. For anyone wanting to improve their entire smile or even just that one “bothersome” tooth, Tooth-Pix makes it very easy - and painless - to find out what the potential results of treatment may be.

Like all imaging services, the better the original photo, the better the simulation. Cosmetic dentists are all experienced in taking high quality smile images and Tooth-Pix recommends contacting one of the many dentists affiliated to its service and have them manage the entire job. They can discuss and assess what you really want, then translate the information to Tooth-Pix along with your image. Alternatively, you can take your own photo and submit it directly online to tooth-pix.com with your own "shopping list" of smile enhancements.

A significant number of New Zealand’s top cosmetic dentists are already using Tooth-Pix to help patients under- stand the benefits of a good smile and appearance. Leading Auckland cosmetic dentist and consultant to the Tooth-Pix development team, Dr Dylan Yung, says Tooth-Pix was created in response to a need for patients to see what cosmetic dentistry could do for them. "Cosmetic dentistry is really a visual art form and previously our profession was not able to adequately communicate to our patients what the results of their treatment were likely to be," Yung says. “Now my patients can receive an exceptionally accurate vision of what treatment will do for their smile and even their entire face."

Visit www.tooth-pix.com as the first step in exploring what cosmetic dentistry can do for you. Or find the closest dentist already using this technology to help their patients see their new beautiful smiles.

Source: See your new smile without leaving your seat - East and ays Courier 14th January 2009

Seniornet North Shore - Channel Magazine April 2012

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Main Image - Ian Handricks teaching how to use the iPad

Seniornet North Shore

Channel Magazine - April 2012

If you believe in the saying that "you can’t teach old dogs new tricks" then this fantastic initiative that we have discovered right here on the North Shore, is going to make you think again. SeniorNet North Shore is aimed at teaching older people how to use computers. The interesting thing that I discovered when I went along to attend a SeniorNet North Shore workshop at the St Johns Ambulance Centre in Shea Terrace, Takapuna in early March, is that this group has actually been around for well over a decade. North Shore was the second club founded in New Zealand. They have over 300 members who take advantage of attending many of the numerous sessions held each month. The March schedule includes no less than 30 options to choose from (two sessions a day on some days), including: - Beginners Workshops; Email and Internet; Spreadsheets and Excel; Dumb Questions; Bring your own Laptop; Basic Camera to Computer; Apple Mac Group; Scanning & Burning CDs; Trade Me; Advanced Windows XP; Vista and Windows; Enhancing Photos; Digital Photography; Photoshop; ProShow Gold; Photo Books; Print to Disk; Microsoft Word; Genealogy.

The day we called in, a Tuesday in mid-March, the session was focussed around "using an iPad" being taught by Ian Handricks -and the room at the St John’s Ambulance Centre was pretty full, which shows that the Apple tablet must be making inroads with the more mature folk. This session is particularly helpful for the older folks as Apple don’t provide easy to follow manuals with the iPads.

We were welcomed by SeniorNet North Shore Chairman and Takapuna resident Peter Patten. Peter has been involved since 2003. He really enjoys gaining knowledge in such programmes as Photoshop and ProShow Gold. But just as important to him, is the social aspect of the regular sessions. Lois Kay, the energetic secretary of SeniorNet North Shore, was there to attend the iPad Workshop. She has been involved for four years and admits to knowing very little about computers when she started - except basic word processing that she did when she was working. She says that SeniorNet has been wonderful, it is a great place to learn, and everybody there is helpful and willing to share. Lois admits to now having an addiction to Genealogy, a very popular workshop and pastime among the older computer users.

SeniorNet North Shore Vice-Chairperson, Barbara Anderson, also started attending when she retired from teaching in 2003. She was told about it by a friend who attended the workshops, and she has been hooked ever since. She is also very keen on Genealogy, as well as Photoshop and Photo Books. Annual membership of SeniorNet North Shore is very affordable. Just $35 per person or $50 for a couple. There are minimal door fees for some sessions, which are all held at St John’s Ambulance Centre, Takapuna (around $3.00). To find out what it is all about, you can also attend as a visitor for one session, free of charge, as long as you book first.

Source: Seniornet North Shore - Channel Magazine April 2012

Photo fixing system to be franchised in UK - Export News 29th November 1999

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Export News

29 November 1999

Photo fixing system to be franchised in UK

Auckland technology company Beyond Imagination is franchising its digital photo manipulation system in Britain.

The company launched its easy-to-use system for enhancing and reprinting photos in New Zealand in 1992; at the beginning of this year, company directors Ken Holmes and lan Handricks decided to expand its operations offshore, starting in the United Kingdom.

Besides the size of the market, and its concentration into cities and towns, the UK was targeted because research showed that the company would face little or no real competition there and a good network of support engineers and trainers were available. Furthermore, specialised computer finance organisations exist there who could fund potential purchasers.

Swallowlield, near Reading in Berkshire, was chosen as a base because of its population density, buoyant economy and proximity to transport systems; and the company was up and running 48 hours after arrival.

It quickly became apparent that the Photocraft product sold in New Zealand would need to be franchised to best capitalise on the market. People inquiring about the system seemed to be much more interested in the product if it was fully franchised as franchised products require commitment from the seller as well as the buyer, Beyond lrnagination director Ken Holmes says. "Franchises give the buyer confidence that there is a mutual path toward success."

A British franchising expert advised the company that substantial manuals and support material would be required and suggested that Beyond Imagination contact one of his associates who specialised in manuals.

After this expert costed the job at more than NZ$6000 and said it would take about three months to complete a draft, the company decided to have a go themselves. The manuals were completed in less than a month and supporting documentation, including a prospectus, financial models, product guides and marketing support material were completed by the end of June.

An attempt to register the trademark Photocraft, was stymied at the last minute by a company about to launch a magazine by the same name, so the company opted instead to register a new name, Photopages.

A leading franchise lawyer was contracted to prepare a franchise agreement. The agreement is used as a template for new contracts, shortening the pre-sales cycle with potential franchisees and the finance companies providing lease funding.

Initially the company duplicated the New Zealand model by advertising for prospects in the "business opportunities" section of major daily newspapers. The initial advertising round attracted more than 100 respondents and gave the company a chance to gauge the market.

Being a New Zealand company starting fresh in an established market was no disadvantage, Holmes says. "As a country we are well respected in the UK and the prospects were pleasantly surprised to see a technology company from New Zealand having such an exciting product."

Having New Zealand’s senior trade commissioner in the UK, John Waugh, visit helped position the new venture solidly in the community, Holmes says. "We received excellent press coverage of both the visit and the development of the company in local newspapers.”

Revised advertising in The Times has brought good leads; a customer relationship management database has been established which is being used to gauge the effectiveness of the revised advertising campaign.

"Our decision to market Photopages in the UK was not taken lightly," Handricks says. "We clearly saw the need to develop our business without adversely affecting the existing network of Photocraft users in New Zealand. Adding too many more systems into New Zealand would only force a dilution of revenue for existing users."

Holmes and Handricks are particularly proud that Beyond Imagination is one of the few New Zealand companies to export technology hardware and one of the few to export a locally developed franchise.

Source: Photo fixing system to be franchised in UK - Export News 29th November 1999

Double quick photo restoration - NZ Business Magazine, July 2004

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

NZ Business Magazine,

July 2004,

Double quick photo restoration,

Photopages will soon be North America’s biggest photo restorer Its 60 graphic design graduates work in shifts to restore up to 1000 photographs in a 24-hour period - and they do this with sophisticated computer software in a big office on Auckland’s North Shore.

In I992 Ian Handricks, Photopages’ chief executive, began restoring old and damaged photos, and writing the software to do it. He then set-up a photo restoration service for New Zealanders.

Handricks moved into the Australian market in 2000, and in 2002 made the big break into the American market. Handricks had met San Francisco-based entrepreneur Ed Bernstein (with the assistance of NZTE) and today Bernstein`s company PhotoTLC handles the American marketing and distribution of Photopages through an ever-growing retail network. It now has 6500 retail representatives.

How does it work? People take a picture that needs restoring into a retail outlet and the image and restoration instructions are transferred to PhotoTLC in San Francisco. PhotoTLC transmits the photos electronically to Photopages in Auckland where the team of computer-based graphic artists go to work on the images.

Each employee can process up to 20 images a day, depending on the complexity of the job. Then the restored picture takes the reverse path back to San Francisco, where it is printed and packaged and delivered to the retailer. Customers are naturally delighted with the quality of the restoration.

Handricks says a number of factors differentiate Photopages from the competition. “We take on seemingly impossible restoration tasks because of our sophisticated and specialised photo restoration software. Unique management and work-flow software tracks each job right through the system and this management process ensures consistency of quality.

“Speed of the turnaround helps too," says Handricks. "Most of the jobs are done within 24 hours of our receiving them. And New Zealand’s graphic design schools produce talented and skilled graduates who make great employees.

"Because of the software, the speed with which it operates, and the skill of our people we can price our service way below others in the US, effectively putting them out of the market."

Source: Double quick photo restoration - NZ Business Magazine, July 2004

Photo company has world in frame - NZ Herald, 18th April 2000

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

"SNAP SUCCESS: Beyond Imagination chief executive Ian Handricks hopes to franchise the company’s photo manipulation system world-wide."

NZ Herald,
18th April 2000,

Photo company has world in frame,

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

A small Auckland business is likely to franchise its photo manipulation system around the globe thanks to a partnership deal with one of the world’s largest technology companies.

Kodak International has agreed to promote Beyond Imagination Global and the sale of its regional franchise licences via its own business network.

Beyond Imagination Global designs digital photo manipulation equipment called Photopages, which can restore and add colour to anything from black-and-white photographs to slides and negatives.

Beyond Imagination chief executive Ian Handricks said the company, which has 35 Photopages systems operating in New Zealand, had recently developed a franchise system that was up and running in Britain with four outlets.

“We want to expand into other areas like Asia, but to do that would be pretty difficult without access to a company like Kodak and their existing business network," he said.

Kodak, which has been supplying Beyond Imagination with components for Photopages for about 10 years, will introduce the company to its clients.

In exchange, Beyond Imagination has entered a co-branding and preferred-supplier arrangement with Kodak.

Doug Dickson, Kodak New Zealand’s professional division manager, said his company was keen to increase its imaging business, "and this company has technology that’s different to what anyone else is doing in the marketplace, from a speed and simplicity point of view."

"At the end of the day, we’re looking to expand our business through this venture, too," said Mr Dickson.

Mr Handricks said Beyond Imagination’s $1.8 million annual turnover was likely to increase at least 100 per cent during the next 12 months.

Beyond Imagination had already sold the rights to its Australian and New Zealand franchise licence with the help of Kodak. "Kodak became interested in us because they could see it fitting in with their corporate and global strategy,” he said.

"They’re very keen to be seen as developing technology.”

Source: Photo company has world in frame - NZ Herald, 18th April 2000

Four eyes see better than two - Management Magazine, April 1995

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Management Magazine,
April 1995,

Four eyes see better than two,

Working to a flat, joke-studded, no holds barred management style, partners Ian Handricks and John Shennan have turned a failing contact lens company into a world leader. Penelope Bieder

Humour is our secret weapon," says Ian Handricks beaming happily. "It’s a major marketing tool and appears in everything we do, from the clothes we wear, to the mad ideas we dream up for major conferences.

Joint managing directors Handricks and john Shennan are sitting at an informal conference table at Hirstlens, the company they jointly own. Beginning and finishing each other’s sentences, these partners are musing on the satisfying performance of a manufacturing company they rescued from the receivers five years ago – a solid company that had its beginnings in 1942, and was world-renowned for its advanced technology in the field of contact lenses.

Dental technician and company founder Eugene Hirst fled from his homeland of Czechoslovakia in 1958, seeing the writing on the wall for Jews in Europe. Soon after arrival, he found a job at Auckland Hospital and, refusing to be discouraged by the wariness and prejudice many New Zealanders then showed towards foreigners, immediately began to see tremendous business opportunities here.

While working at the hospital, an ophthalmologist asked him if he could form a contact lens, which in those years were large haptic lenses. They had first proved useful after World War One for soldiers who had suffered damage from mustard gas poisoning. These early large lenses provided relief in separating the cornea from the eyelid.

Hirst’s groundbreaking work with plastics led him to establish his own company, Hirstlens, in the early 1940s. Although he knew nothing about contact lenses, he surrounded himself with books, supplied lenses and taught optometrists how to take a mould of the eye. Early patients needed to be of a fairly tolerant disposition during the fitting process!

Eventually Hirst joined forces with prominent optometrist Doug Mortimer and they ran the contact lens business above the optometry practice In 1953-54, they began to develop the contact lens as we know it today, although the first models were still 10mm larger in diameter than modern lenses and made of a very pure perspex imported from ICI in England.

Hirst constantly sought out new ideas and material, forging ‘contacts’ overseas, working at the cutting edge of research and development. In the mid-1960s, Otto Wirtchle, another Czechoslovakian, developed the hydrogel material - a major breakthrough which led directly to the birth of the soft contact lens.

Through his friendship with Wirtchle, Hirst obtained one of the first batches of hydrogel and was soon sub-licensing technology offshore. Before long, New Zealand was leading the world (outside Czechoslovakia) in the manufacture of soft contact lenses.

When current joint managing directors Shennan and Handricks joined the company (Shennan in 1968, Handricks in 1974) Hirst’s business philosophy included a relaxed management style that promoted pride in the craft, a positive attitude to research and development, alongside a fierce loyalty to the company itself not surprisingly, almost all staff have been with Hirstlens 15 years or more. Though the company has evolved considerably since Hirst died in 1989, Shennan and Handricks would not have missed those pioneering days for the world, operating out of workshops with artisan-type technicians who were both locally and internationally trained.

In 1976 Hirst's involvement lessened and he sold the company to New Zealand Optical which formed a company under the ownership of SonnFilter AG, of Switzerland. They sold out to Crown Corporation, which in turn sold out to Standard Optical Corporation of Australasia - which shortly after went into receivership.

In 1989 Handricks and Shennan decided to attempt to purchase the company from the receivers. It was seriously ailing, nearly bereft of products and suffering a faltering commitment from its suppliers. Mortgaging themselves to the hilt they succeeded in gaining control over a 10-month period and found themselves with a business made up of a spectacle laboratory, a sunglass laboratory, instrumentation and a contact lens laboratory. And it was then, that Hirstlens was born.

The latter, though doing very well, was a forgotten cousin in a large operation, working away quietly in a corner of the building. Says Handricks; "We felt we had enough expertise to make some pretty fundamental changes in the direction of the company. After 48 years it was time for a major shake-up. We decided to try some innovative management and marketing techniques that were unknown not only in the optical industry but in most other fields, too."

When it surfaced from receivership the company was producing four or five products - hardly enough to make it stronger. An initial decision was made to increase the range and over six months, the four products grew into a product catalogue that was over 100 pages long.

The second step was to overhaul the marketing division. "How could we honestly go into the marketplace with a company that had just come out of receivership in a country that was in the throes of deregulation?” Handricks and Shennan pondered. “Multinational optical companies were lining up to compete with us. "They decided that rather than fighting the competition, they would act co-operatively.

So Handricks and Shennan asked the larger companies if they would like Hirstlens to sell their products for them. Gradually, the multinationals agreed. Now companies like Bausch and Lomb, Allergan, Alcon and Pilkington Barnes (PBH) allow Hirstlens to sell their products on their behalf even though they have their own distribution warehousing and sales teams in this country.

“Hirstlens has made a very great success of it," says Handricks, proudly. "To the stage where a couple of years ago a major multinational asked us to take over their New Zealand operation?

The third step was to define their business. Handricks explains; "Instead of being unidirectional, Hirstlens was split into three parts. We are a contact lens manufacturing unit, a distribution company selling other people’s products and, with the company’s historical emphasis on technology, the third direction taken has been the setting up of a technology division. This was in itself divided into two areas: the research and development of contact lenses, and computers." The computer business had begun back in the mid-1980s when Handricks and Shennan were heavily involved with the development of computer - controlled contact lens machinery.

While in England, Handricks, working for Hirstlens, had developed a series of computer - controlled lathes that were at the leading edge of technology. Handricks (an engineer by training and something of a computer pro) lived in England for seven years and Shennan visited often. Their lathes now sell all over the world with Handricks assisting in the development of laboratories.

Their love of computers led them to taking a computer filled with games to an optometry conference, where more people could be found out the back of the stand playing games than at the front looking at contact lenses. (That was the last time Hirstlens took a contact lens product to a conference.) The small computer side of the business has grown into a monster - from helping optometrists computerise their businesses to marketing and developing the latest in digital image processing. Recently, a new branch called Beyond Imagination came online and they continue to run a support group called OUCH - Optometrist Using Computers Hotline - where members develop skills and help each other. This was successful to the extent that Hirstlens has supplied virtually every computer used in optometry in New Zealand. Moreover, while this may appear to be a small market, some clients have purchased up to nine computers.

But digital image processing is where Beyond Imagination is concentrating and Handricks and Shennan’s gaze is now refocusing offshore. “We have found a way to produce this photographic system for one tenth of the price of a similar system in the United States, and Hirstlens has become the major supplier of digital image processing in New Zealand, as well as photo imaging," says Shennan

"In case you’re wondering," interrupts Handricks, "it is the process of taking old photos and repairing them, taking two photos and joining them together, taking images out of photos, putting images into photos, graphics, layout, video capture and manipulation, sound, creating music, and a whole range of media tools. A system that costs $250,000 plus in the United States has been developed by us at Hirstlens for $20,000, and we have begun exporting to Australia and England. We provide the software, the hardware, the training and the marketing training."

The attraction of the package is that someone can come in, see the system and know what the total capital outlay for the business is going to be - usually about $29,000. Digital imaging is a self-contained small business for someone who has a small amount of capital and wishes to be self-employed in a new and growing area.

Handricks and Shennan are pleasantly surprised at the enormous growth and potential of this branch of their company, and happily confess to never predicting such success. In 1995, they bought a 20,000 square foot building in St Lukes, Auckland, which gives them the necessary space for their ‘wonderland’ - an environment they have created where adults especially can take their time to learn the technology before they buy it. Thus an unpressured interactive environment is provided which blatantly aims to excite the senses - and Handricks and Shennan are convinced this has been one of the secrets of their success.

The runaway growth of the company is reflected in Handricks’ and Shennan’s management style. “we have developed a management style we felt comfortable with - it cannot be labelled paternalistic or laissez-faire and there is no pecking order," says Handricks. He and Shennan jointly manage a company where there are no defined roles, they are both at ease in the contact lens or the computer side of the company and can be found unloading trucks and answering phones. In the laboratory, everyone works for the mutual benefit of the company and themselves. No-one clocks on or off and there is mutual trust. Handricks and Shennan know their staff have families where day-to-day management problems can be bigger than any they encounter at work - and that flexibility is important.

Problem-solving techniques in the laboratory are used by staff who are encouraged to think independently by bringing a solution as well as a problem to management. “If an environment is provided in which people can develop their talents the whole business benefits."

If there is a problem, staff feel free to approach either Handricks or Shennan - as well as finishing each other’s sentences, they readily swap roles as trouble-shooters. Part of their internal communication system is one A4 sheet of paper that circulates on a Monday when the week’s work is first confronted and analysed. The mission statement is dead simple. They are in business to stay in business. A tattered diary is shared between the directors, they take holidays when they feel the need and they do not work overtime. They feel their joint managerial role works because they recognise each other’s weaknesses but try to build on each other’s strengths as well. "It has parallels with a good marriage - the secret of which is communication. We need the challenge which the other one provides."

Hirstlens’ turnover nearly doubled in the first three years of Handricks and Shennan’s take-over, and they are confident of more than repeating that growth in the next three-year period. A bifocal lens project - funded 50/50 between the company and the Government (the Technology for Business Growth Programme run by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology) - is being trialled by companies overseas.

On top of that, the potential development and diversification of the computer side of the business, with its offbeat marketing approach, is well beyond imagination.

Source: Four eyes see better than two - Management Magazine, April 1995

Cosmetic Dentistry with Adobe Photoshop - NZ Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, 6th September 2006,

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

"Ian Handricks was a great teacher, extremely knowledgeable and positive. He was very helpful and approachable”

NZ Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry,
6th September 2006,

Cosmetic Dentistry with Adobe Photoshop

After implementing digital photography into your daily dental practice, one of the natural progressions is the cosmetic simulation - combining the versatility of the digital medium, with the power of Adobe Photoshop CS2 and, of course, your own sound clinical judgement - to create a simulated "after" photo from a "before" photo. Mr Handricks is possibly one of the world's most qualified individuals to teach you how to do this. His company, Photo Wonder, uses the Photoshop software to work on millions of photos per week, utilising many techniques which he devised. Using simple, easy to learn and use techniques, participants will learn how to simulate cosmetic dental procedures such as the restoration of missing teeth with implants or bridges, tooth whitening, restoring broken or worn teeth, gingival re-contouring, etc.

Here are what some previous participants have said about this course:-

"For me, hands on has always been the best way to learn, and Ian not only made it easy, but interesting, informative and fun. The day went too quick! Photoshop is a big daunting programme but with Ian's expert knwoledge it became a breeze to reshape, re-colour and repair teeth. I look forwards to using this knowledge to improve the quality of my surgery photos and personal photos, and to restore damaged old photos." - Dr H.Stephen

"Ian Handricks was a great teacher, extremely knowledgeable and positive. He was very helpful and approachable. His techniques were very useful and far more simple and quick than any photoshop dental course I have attended before. Also, all the added extras were great, like the 3 photos he restored for me and his tips on genealogy. What an interesting man!" - Dr A.McKeefry

"Simulating potential results for cosmetic cases has never been so easy and the ability to fix my holiday pics was a huge bonus! This course was worth every penny!" - Dr B.Yang

Source: Cosmetic Dentistry with Adobe Photoshop - NZ Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, 6th September 2006,

Double Vision - NZ Business Magazine, December 1993,

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +1300

"John Shennan (left) and Ian Handricks, joint owners of Hirstlens NZ, have a knack for lateral thinking which turns the rather serious business of manufacturing and marketing contact lenses into a lot more fun."

NZ Business,
December 1993,

Double Vision,
By Daniel Riordan,

Auckland’s ritzy Pan Pacific Hotel is buzzing - literally. Fifteen model racing cars are tearing around helix-shaped tracks stretched over four large scaffolds. You’d think the optometrists attending the contact lens conference nearby would complain about the noise - if they weren’t so busy frantically working the remote controls of the miniature motors.

What do racing cars have to do with optometry? About as much as do gas torches, caricature artists, pizza boxes and frisbees - all of which have been used over the years to good effect by contact lens manufacturer Hirstlens NZ. The company’s motto could well be "expect the unexpected"; its secret weapon in the struggle for optometrists' order books is assuredly its sense of humour.

That’s how Hirstlens’ live-wire pairing of co-managing directors and owners Ian Handricks and John Shennan like to present their management strategy, and that’s generally how the industry perceives it.

The two head a company of solid pedigree dating back to 1942, renowned for its advanced technology, and with a new product under development - a bifocal contact lens of enormous world-wide market potential.

They also head a company which less than four years ago was on its deathbed - nearly bereft of products, its parent company in receivership, and its suppliers about to give up. That's when a sense of humour was needed most - as Handricks’ look alike Jerry Garcia might have said at that point, “What a long, strange trip it’s been."

That trip started back in 1942, when Hirstlens was founded by Eugene Hirst, a Czech Jew and dental technician who’d emigrated to New Zealand several years previously. Asked by an ophthalmologist to make a prosthetic eye shell for a woman with a complicated eye condition, he enjoyed the challenge, and decided to manufacture contact lenses full time.

“Gene was a patriarchal-type manager," remembers Handricks, who joined Hirstlens in 1974, six years after Shennan. “He'd come in and pat you on the back at nine o’clock in the morning, and enquire why you' d shifted an instrument l0 degrees on the bench. He fostered an interest in everybody’s personal career and engendered in us a culture that’s never been lost."

Doug Mortimer, an Auckland optometrist, bought a half share in the company in the early 1950s and things grew from there. Hirstlens became a world leader in developing the technology for the relatively new techniques of soft lens manufacture, without realising it at first.

“Because of isolation, I don’t think we knew what was truly happening around the world," explains Handricks. "We thought we were the poor cousins, but as it turned out we were miles ahead of anyone else."

But even so, Hirstlens still managed to lose its way. It succumbed to the nemesis of so many small technology-based companies: the corporate embrace.

That was in 1976, when Hirst and Mortimer sold their shareholdings to NZ Optical. As a division of NZ Optical - which was in turn owned by a larger Swiss conglomerate - Hirstlens struggled to adapt.

“The corporation had distant visions of hugeness for its division," recalls Handricks. “But Hirstlens was never designed to be a big company. “It was like being pulled through a wringer," he grimaces. “We used to account for every piece of material we used.

We became a company run by accountants."

And it got worse. In 1986 NZ Optical was gobbled up by Crown Corporation, which fell over two years later. Enter new owner Standard Optical of Australasia, which took all of six months to go into receivership itself.

“Poor old Hirstlens was by this stage sitting there looking pretty forlorn,” says Handricks.

At which point, Shennan and he said “enough is enough" and negotiated with the receivers to free the company once-and-for-all from its corporate shell. On June 1, 1990 the two became joint owners of the newly incorporated Hirstlens NZ, and set about restoring the operation’s reputation.

But first, they sat down and pondered how they were going to run the company. As befits a self-styled Laurel and Hardy act, they hit upon humour as the key to their approach.

“We decided that one thing lacking in New Zealand business at the time - not long after the crash - was humour. So that was going to be our secret weapon," says Handricks.

But there really wasn't much to laugh about at the time. The compar1y’s suppliers had been badly burned by the previous owners, and Sherman and Handricks had their work cut out convincing them to stick with the company.

"We called on every friendship we’d ever made in the industry," says Handricks. “And every single supplier came back to us, and took us on our word that we could make this thing work, ” including, he adds, suppliers who had expressed interest in buying the company themselves.

The climb back is likened by Handricks to scaling Everest wearing jandals and a T-shirt, but it’s a climb Hirstlens has made nevertheless.

In fact, points out Shennan, Hirstlens has made a profit every quarter since the two became its owners.

The off-beat approach was a big ingredient of that success. As Shennan describes it, it was the “something extra that was needed to grab the attention of suppliers and convince them that what they were dealing with was a company committed to the future."

The industry got an indication of what to expect at Hirstlens’ initial public appearance under Handricks’ and Shennan’s ownership - the 60th annual optometrists’ conference in Hamilton.

With just four products of any note, and a recent history of marketplace failure, the two decided to present the company to prospective customers with no products at all.

So they built a five metre high “time tunnel" and lined its walls with a history of optometry, featuring photos of just about everyone in the industry. “It was our way of giving something back to the optometrists in return for what they’d given us," says Handricks. The stand was packed throughout the conference.

“We talked more about our products than we’d ever talked before in our life. We were dry in the throat at the end of it, ” says Handricks. “But we’d proved we didn't need to take product to a conference - and since then we never have."

The next conference was in Christchurch. Although Handricks must have told the story countless times, it’s belied by his obvious relish in the yarn.

“Christchurch was our competitor’s territory, so we were allocated the far back booth. We decided to go quite minimalist, and took an empty booth with virtually nothing in it at all. But we hired a caricature artist and he drew about 300 caricatures of all the optometrists, with our logo. And of course they were stuck in a chair for l0 minutes and couldn’t move, so we could talk to them.

“We said they could have their caricatures - which were big ones, life size - so long as we could put them up on the wall for the duration of the show. And all of a sudden every square inch of wall, floor and ceiling was covered with these caricatures.

"Even our competitors wanted them done - we said sure, provided you stick them up in your booths. So the Hirstlens’ logo was everywhere.

“Then on the [final day] of the conference, when all the deals were about to be signed, we announced that everyone could come back to our booth and pick up their caricatures. That left all our competitors standing there with empty notepads in one single swoop we’d managed the biggest coup ever at a conference."

Now, several years on from that first conference where it could have presented no more than four products of any note, the Hirstlens’ catalogue contains over 300 product lines.

Handricks and Shennan say the response to the company at conferences has allowed it to jump to the next level, and also to broaden its scope from just contact lenses.

The diversification started at an early conference when Handricks took along a computer to play with behind the exhibit stand while the conference was in session. The interest shown in the computers by the many optometrists lacking in computer literacy led to Handricks initiating a profitable sideline for the company in computer sales and setting up an industry user group called “OUCH" - Optometrists Using Computers Help.

“We figured they were probably looking to have a bit more enjoyment than going ‘better, worse, better, worse’ in a dark room all day," jokes Handricks.

Today, Hirstlens has supplied hundreds of computers to the industry. The diversification has enabled the company to build a self-sustaining relationship with the industry - with optometrists confidently writing their own databases, Handricks points out it’s that much easier for them to jump to the next technology level when it becomes available, with Hirstlens as lens supplier.

More recently, Handricks [an engineer by training and something of a computer whizz] was asked to put together a total photo digital imaging system for the photographic industry, which, among other things, will enable the company to make a video of the fitting procedures for the bifocal lens, which can then be fed straight into a computer.

So long as these “sidelines" don’t stray too far from the company’s core business of contact lenses, Handricks and Shennan are confident they’ll contribute to rather than detract from Hirstlens’ positive growth path.

Having a dual command structure is definitely seen as a positive for the company. Two managing directors is not a recipe for continual infighting.

“If one of us doesn’t agree with the other’s suggestion, we say ‘fine - let’s not argue’ and we drop the idea," says Shennan. “There’s no defined position for either of us. We don’t say that one of us is marketing-oriented, or the other is product-oriented. We really don’t define our roles - to either our suppliers or our staff. And it works.

“We’re about as different as chalk and cheese as you can find," adds Handricks. “It really is a Laurel and Hardy approach to business."

Shennan says while he’s more reserved, Handricks is more of the gambler.

Explains Handricks: “I prefer using a phone to do business; John prefers using a pen. John’s a better public speaker than me because he’s probably more nervous about it than I am. I’ll get up and waffle - he gets up more organised, and the audience get more from it as a result."

But what of the racing cars whiz zing around in the Pan Pacific? They were all painted in Hirstlens’ colours of green, blue and black with logos, and the company’s advertising was displayed on the miniature hoardings that lined the race tracks. And next to the action, the company had a pile of “fast track courier systems" for sale - pizza boxes with order forms and pre-paid envelopes for Hirstlens’ products.

The two complemented each other superbly, says Shennan. “Optometrists were coming up to us and saying, ‘I’ll double my account with you if you can beat me around the track’. They had fun."

Corporate Crunch

John Shennan and Ian Handricks say that while they didn’t find adapting to the corporate ownership easy, it never crossed their minds to leave Hirstlens.

"We had too much pride in what we were doing," explains Shennan. "And we could see the potential - the light at the end of the tunnel, and that helped us put up with the inconveniences." He says they realised management was new to the job of running a contact lens company and that Handricks and he worked long hours to ensure the corporate overlords saw the strength of Hirstlens.

Still, the take-over by Standard Optical of Australasia severely tested their patience. "It was an eerie feeling," reflects Shennan. "They’d always been competitors of NZ Optical, and the integration of their staff with ours was difficult. They were walking around talking about what they were going to do to this and that ... there was a lot of cynicism about it all."

Came the receivership, and it was almost with a sense of relief that the two took control of the company themselves. Facing a tremendous learning curve, the two were determined all along to do what Shennan calls "the right thing" by customers, employees and receivers. "And it had to be done in a gentlemanly manner, " he adds.

Loosening the chains

Hirstlens turnover has nearly doubled in the three years since Ian Handricks and John Shennan took over. They aim to repeat that growth again in the next three-year period. The company has minimal exports, though that should change if the bifocal lens project - funded 50/50 between the company and the government (the Technology for Business Growth Programme run by the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology) - realises its potential. “It’s quite a stimulus for a company to be involved with the foundation," says Shennan. "It is a chance to explore the potential developments that it has." The lens is expected to be released onto the market next year.

The core Hirstlens’ 14-strong staff have been with the company for over 10 years. Apart from one who left to go to university, no staff have been lost in the time Handricks and Shennan have been running the company. The loyalty factor is very high, says Shennan, which helped keep the company going through its various periods of corporate ownership.

“The staff had been used to autocratic-type management," says Shennan. "We’ve since loosened all the chains - now there’s no partitions between us and them. The first thing we did was take the time clock off the wall." Everyone pitches in when needed: “Ian and l will be in jeans one minute, loading the truck, packing boxes, then we’ll be out front again, talking to our customers."

Source: Double Vision - NZ Business Magazine, December 1993,